*Saoirse*
My fingers brushed against my lips as I stared out the bedroom window at the chaos beyond. More and more scientists were walking off into the trees, hauling box after box.
Sothing was going on. I knew it. But whenever I asked soone about it, I was either dismissed or ignored altogether. It had been over twenty-four hours since the invasion of Hunter’s Glen began, and the scientists hadn’t stopped moving once.
I tried to follow them a couple of tis but was unsuccessful between Conall’s and Rhys’ prison guards.
Even thinking Rhys’ na made my anxiety spike. I subconsciously touched my lips. Rhys had kissed . He really kissed , and then he just left without any explanation. I hadn’t seen him since.
I wondered what I was supposed to make of that and why couldn’t I stop thinking about it. My heart rate jumped in response to my internal questions.
I walked over and flopped myself down on the bed in the corner of my room. I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself back down. Taking my eyes off the problem didn’t help at all, nor did sitting still. I covered my eyes with my arm, trying to block out more than just the lights.
Life kept throwing questions at that I didn’t have any answers for, and I was getting exhausted. Everyone kept telling they would give answers later, but later wasn’t good enough anymore.
Sothing was happening in my pack, and I needed to know what.
I straightened my back and sat up as the resolve hit . I wanted answers, and I was going to get them. If I had to keep harassing them until it happened, so be it.
My mother was the easiest target and the one I was most hurt by. She was stuck in the pack house with , so I had easy access to her. She was also the one I felt owed explanations on so many levels, not to ntion that I knew her the best or thought I did. I decided it might be easier to convince her to tell .
Besides, the re idea of seeing or talking to Rhys made my heartbeat spike again and my palms sweat. It was definitely better to start with my mother.
It had been nearly a week since the dragon woman had co into our house, and my mother had tended to her nearly the entire ti. That was the obvious first place to check for her. I had been helping my mother, but she had sent away once already for distracting her with questions.
I wondered what she had expected. She suddenly told she was from this other pack that had been protecting magic dragons for generations, but I couldn’t ask her any questions about it. She had to be joking.
Even by normal people’s standards, that was an unrealistic expectation, and I wasn’t normal.
And then there were the elders. Who were those three won, and why did they seem to know everything? Their level of knowledge had almost been frightening. It was almost as if they had been there for all of it or that they could see it, especially the creepy one at the end who never talked.
I twisted my hands in my dress, the only physical sign of anxiety that I was allowing myself. The more I thought, the more questions I had. It was getting overwhelming.
I needed to find my mom.
We had moved Keelana into a small room on our side of the pack house, so it didn’t take long to make my way to it. I had to admit, having her in the room was a lot nicer than having all the constant eyes of those who ca to gawk staring down my back.
I was surprised to find Keelana’s door already open, so I quietly peeked inside. My heart stuttered as I saw Rhys. His back was to , but there was no denying it was him.
I had plenty of questions for him too.
However, my body seed to freeze, unsure of what to do. Though the heat from what happened before started to flood through my veins, I couldn’t move. As I stood there frozen, I watched Rhys and frowned.
He was hovering over Keelana’s still unconscious form. I could tell by the way his shoulders were hunched and his body was so tight that he was worried. He was on edge. My breathing ca inconsistently as I moved to stand behind the wall a little, still observing.
I didn’t want him to know I was there.
I watched as he reached out and placed a hand softly against the beautiful woman’s forehead. A delicate silver strand of hair had blown across her face, and he moved his hand to correct it, gently tucking it behind her ear. I heard a sigh escape him then as if he was devastated.
It was all just tender. My throat tightened. I felt like I should look away from what appeared to be a private mont, but my eyes wouldn’t leave the heartbreaking sight.
He was so familiar with her.
A small voice in my head reminded that Rhys once showed similar attentiveness to my injuries. His strong, sure hands applied the healing salve to my bruises and cuts after he saved from the kidnappers. The warmth his touch had brought...
Clenching my fists, I strode away before Rhys noticed watching or I saw anything else. It wasn’t as if I needed convincing that I ant nothing to him.
I made my way to the family hall in a daze, trying to find sothing to distract . Mother... I had to find my mother.
If my mother wasn’t with Keelana, which I knew too well that she wasn’t, then my next guess was the family hall. As soon as I walked in, I knew she wasn’t there. I frowned and continued my search, but my hope was diminishing.
Kitchen... Bedroom... Bathroom... She was nowhere to be found.
It wasn’t hard to notice that my mother had taken to disappearing for hours at a ti and returning as if she had never been gone. I noticed. It wasn’t hard to notice when I was still locked up. The house wasn’t that big.
The real question was what was she doing? And why was she hiding it from ? She had been so open with that I thought we were taking a turn for the better, but maybe I was wrong.
She couldn’t tell all her secrets.
The secret tunnel popped into my mind then. Maybe that was where she was going. She could have been going to the elders or wherever the other hidden halls had led. My curiosity was piqued.
I turned and headed toward that part of the house. It was not like I was dying to stay in the house anyway. Even if I couldn’t find my mother, it would be nice to get out of there.
I didn’t want to see him.
The Moon Goddess had to hate because that’s exactly what happened. I was passing through the family hall again when I suddenly heard so voices from the direction of the front door.
"-all you’ve done." I caught the end of Rhys’ unmistakable voice.
"You’re welco, Your Highness," the answering voice softly replied. I stepped slowly forward until I could look in the direction of the front door.
Sure enough, Rhys was standing right by the front door with the village healer across from him. This ti, I could see his profile, which allowed to read his face. I hadn’t been able to do that before.
Seeing his face was harder to stomach without turning away because then I could see his lips.
"However, and I hope you don’t take offense to this, I plan to have Keelana transported to my royal palace for further care and protection."
My breath caught in dismay. The look of concern and fierce protectiveness was clear from this angle. The unwelco ache in my chest grew uncomfortably.
Of course, he wanted to keep her by his side. The lure of the elegant, powerful dragon shifter was too strong for him to resist.
It was not as if I could bla him.
That didn’t an it didn’t hurt. My hands naturally drifted back to my lips as more questions swirled in my head. Had the kiss we shared ant nothing then? Why did he do it?
Was he just trying to get to be quiet?
Or worse, did he pity ?
A warmth of embarrassnt flushed my cheeks. Had I misunderstood the whole thing?
"That’s fine with , Your Highness," the healer continued, unaware of falling apart only a room away. "I don’t know how to treat monsters anyway."
"Don’t call her that," Rhys snapped, losing his courteous manners for the first ti in their conversation.
The turmoil tearing through was shocking. I hadn’t realized that Rhys had beco so integrated into my heart that the thought of him protecting another girl was setting off. I dared not even na what I was feeling and thinking. The thought was terrifying.
I never wanted to give a man my power, but now I had unwillingly given him all of mine.
"Saoirse," a clear voice rang, making start.
My emotional struggle was so prominent in my mind that I didn’t even notice as my father entered the family hall behind . He must have entered through one of the side doors because he hadn’t been in the house when I just searched for my mother.
I jerked away from the hall so Rhys wouldn’t be able to see . I wasn’t sure if he had heard my father call my na, but I didn’t need him to know I was just staring at him. He would think I was obsessed.
I wondered if I was.
Without giving a chance to collect myself, Alpha Strider continued toward , his face set in a way that told he was Alpha right now and not Dad.
"Prepare for your departure," my father demanded. "You leave first thing at dawn."
Hope spiked within . My thoughts went to Rhys. Had he already made plans for as well? I hated how hopeful I felt, but if he wanted there too, it was a good sign, right? From the lowest of lows to such a high, I was going to have emotional whiplash.
"How long will I be in the capital?" I asked, trying to get myself under control.
"The capital?" Alpha Strider looked angry and confused at the sa ti. "You aren’t going back to that goddess-forsaken place. No. You leave at dawn for Blackstone."
My heart dropped lower than it had been even minutes before, and I felt myself choke.
It wasn’t Rhys who had planned my departure.
It was Conall.
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