Chapter 296: Chapter 296

296 Do not despair

Honour, with the help of the prince and next to no help from her mother, was done pruning (and sometimes hacking at branches that had grown a little too much).

With well-explained instructions from the girl, they both managed to put the flower shop back in order after three hours without incidents( there might have been a few).

The prince rushed the trash out of the shop and came back in as Honour placed the last pot on display. Wiping the sweat from his brow, “This is no easy task, you know.”

“It gets hard the moment you don’t take delight in doing it,” the girl replied, barely showing a hint of exhaustion from the work they’d been doing.

“I didn’t think I would ever find chores impressive. You don’t even look a little worn out. You should take some delight in the morning training drills,” Drake joked, pouring himself a drink from the water dispenser.

Honour laughed out loud at his joke, “Now that would be something. But if it were the case, then Katie would have infinite endurance.”

The prince came around and watched as the girl’s fingers wouldn’t let go of the petals of the last plant she’d placed in its place, “You really love flowers, don’t you?”

“Who wouldn’t? They are so delicate and beautiful,” the girl swooned over the vibrant colours of the flowers within the shop, “Each one is unique in its own way as if mother nature knows the meaning of beauty(which I think she does) and they are always around for just a short amount of time, gracing the world with their beautiful colours just before they fade away. The plant then works to bring more colour to this world. That short moment the flower blooms means a lot.”

In her rambling, she willed the plant before her to display the process she envisioned in her mind. Forgetting about the royal’s presence, the plant began to grow buds which bloomed immediately into vibrant yellow flowers.

.....

The petals bloomed so fast that they were flung from the bases of the flower, fluttering about in a beautiful spiral motion of yellow radiance. The sudden movement startled the girl for a moment. Noticing her error, she remained quiet and waited for the prince to speak.

“That explains why the plants in this shop grow so fast and are the prettiest, might I add. Just like the one that tends to them.”

Skipping over the obvious compliment, Honour whipped around so she could stare the prince straight in the face. The expression that met her gaze wasn’t one she’d expected at all. While one would be frightened after seeing something like that, Drake was barely shaken.

“Aren’t you freaked out?” Honour asked him.

“Not really... not after what I have seen in the past few weeks. I watched my sister put the rogue king in a tight spot, harnessing divine energy to levels I could not begin to believe possible. You are sort of like the cherry on top,” the prince chuckled, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

However, when he did, Honour noticed a freshly bleeding cut running along his middle finger.

Honour’s smile faded almost immediately. She hurried forward and reached for his hand,Drake, you’re hurt,” the girl exclaimed, her voice filled with worry.

“Oh, this will heal... you don’t have to...” the man was immediately silenced when a chilling sensation went through him yet leaving a warm feeling in its wake.

Puzzled, he watched the wound on his hand close up almost instantly. In a matter of seconds, the wound was gone and hadn’t even left a scar behind.

Honour, who hadn’t been able to control that much of her power before was mystified by what happened. However, this time she’d taken note of what triggered her powers into doing her bidding.

That mental note aside, there was now the case of the royal standing in front of her. He’d witnessed her using her powers twice now. She looked up from his hand with a pained expression. It was a silent plea.

“Your secret is safe with me, Honour. For as long as keeping it won’t put anyone else in danger,” the man winked. Without giving her much room to explain herself, “Now, what’s next on your to-do list?”

A sense of relief washed over the girl along with one of longing. Not knowing the source of her odd feelings, she couldn’t deny she wished she could explain everything to him. She shook off the thoughts that plagued her mind and spoke up, “Pushing you back to the palace where you shall tend to the rest of your duties.”

“What... no, those are already taken care of. You have to believe me. I don’t...”

“No excuses, we are going to the palace right now,” the girl shouted over the sound of his voice. The prince chuckled at her attempt, but followed her lead nonetheless, “Mother, I have finished tending to the flowers, like you wanted me to.”

“Oh, you’re such a dear. Have fun you two,” the woman replied, turning Honour’s face red. To hide the reaction, the girl continued to drag the prince outside, keeping her face to his back.

“Move it, Sirius...”

......

It was almost dusk when Honour yawned out of sheer boredom. Drake had been seated at his father’s desk for what felt like ten hours but was in fact just three.

The two of them had made it to the palace and had a late lunch before Honour forcefully dragged the prince to take care of his father’s work. Drake was loving the attention. There was a lot of work at the king’s desk that he needed to go through.

“Ugh, is this all the king does every day?” the girl yawned, helping Drake file one more document before stretching her arms.

“More or less... It gets worse when there is inflation or during the festive and harvest seasons. Too many people sought his approval for many of their ideas in the capital and others quarrelled over land. It’s nuts,” the prince replied. Noticing the girl’s obvious boredom, he stopped what he was doing, “How about we go for a walk?”

“That would be nice. Do you have that kind of time to spare?” she asked him.

“No, not really, but I do have something I need to check out,” the man responded, his face getting somewhat worried.

“Very well, what is it?” she asked.

“Well, Crysta was missing in the morning. I want to go out and ask whether she has been found yet,” the man replied. He then scrunched his eyebrows in worry... there was something else he wasn’t saying.

“Why didn’t you start with that? We’ve been going through useless papers about people filing complaints. Look at this,” Honour held up one of the papers they had just been through, caring not for folding it too roughly, “This was someone complaining that her mate was cheating on her or at least she suspected it.”

“I was expecting to find missing persons report in one of these pointing out that Crysta was missing, but after I didn’t find it, I assumed she was found.

That is the procedure, but then again, I have tried contacting her and I haven’t received a response through the mind link and none from Bree either,” the prince replied, “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Who else knew about this?” Honour asked.

“Lina knew, but I can guess she’s been overwhelmed by Madeline’s case that she might have forgotten,” Drake replied thoughtfully, “Bree was also with her when the two of them discovered the girl had gone oddly silent.”

“What are we still doing here? Let’s go check her room first,” Honour urged him out of his seat. Drake was out the door faster than she could follow before he remembered she couldn’t exactly keep up with a royal’s speed.

“You coming...” he called after her. The girl snapped out of her daze and hurried up to him. ‘He’s no Katie, but he’s still fast...’

“You know I am... Lina would never forgive herself if something happened to that Delta,” Honour mentioned.

Drake wanted to ask what that was supposed to mean but decided against it. He had known the two were getting close, but Honour’s description of their relationship didn’t make sense to him. ‘I thought Crysta didn’t like Lina... at all.’

They reached her room and just like before, there was no reply from the other side. Honour got out her phone and tried dialling her number. After a while, Drake asked her to keep quiet for a moment.

The prince then closed his eyes and began to focus. He was far too focused to notice that as he closed his eyes, white fur slowly grew from his face and his ears elongated tapering into tips with the aim of gathering all the sound they could. He sorted through the many sounds and searched for the one sound he was looking for, “I can hear her cell phone ringing.”

When he was sure about the source of the ringtone, he rushed through the hallways in pursuit of the phone. Honour knew she only had to keep calling the phone and let him follow the sound of its ringtone. She kept track of him through the mind link and made her way through the palace. ‘Was... was Drake always capable of a half shift?’

The royal led her out of the palace and into the forest bordering the backyard. She found Drake staring at a phone in a purple case vibrating on the ground...

In a pool of dried blood...

Honour’s blood went cold at the sight, “Is that... Crysta’s phone?”

Drake didn’t reply, his mind working on the next step, “Have you heard from her friends?”

“You mean Bree, Ginger or Lina? I haven’t heard from any of them,” Honour replied quickly.

“Bree knew she was missing as well,” Drake said more to himself. Searching the mind link, “Try calling her phone.”

“I don’t have Bree’s number, Drake, but it shouldn’t be hard to get,” the girl replied, searching her phone for someone else who could help. It did not take them long to figure out that Crysta’s friends had gone missing as well. “Why don’t we try calling her parents?”

“Crysta’s guardians are ambassadors for the king. She lives on her own,” Drake replied. A short while later, the prince slammed his fist into a nearby tree, “How didn’t we pick up any form of distress through the mind link?”

“Either both of them were caught off guard and knocked unconscious before they had the chance to call for help or they were led away by someone they trusted... at least, that’s what I can say for the others. Crysta was definitely knocked out. I don’t want to think about what could be happening to...,” Honour stopped in her rambling. She didn’t want to give in to despair. Drake began pacing about, “Can’t you follow her scent?”

“It’s been far too long now. With the scent this faint, there is only one wolf I know capable of following such a trail. If we could find the place Bree or Ginger were captured, we could be able to follow those scents,” the prince replied. Honour noticed his tone... the tone of someone who had already given up on their chances of saving the girls.

“Hey, you can’t give up now. Think about Crysta and her friends for a moment. If you were in their shoes, what would be going through your mind at the moment,” the girl asked.

“I would be seeking ways to escape and break out before...”

“You’re a royal, Drake. Deltas don’t have the power that you do,” Honour scolded him. Drake fell silent, staring the girl in the eyes.

“I would be hoping to be saved by someone. Anyone would do, I guess,” he guessed, “I don’t want to think about what they could have been through already.”

“We can’t give up on them, you know.”

“No, we can’t,” his mind worked on finding different ways to save the girls. As he thought through a solution, he began his broadcast to the entire pack, notifying them to stay vigilant and report anyone else that had gone missing. As he addressed the pack, a voice interrupted him.

“Perhaps, I could be of help,” a man greeted them.