48

48

Ian’s POV

The last twenty – four hours had been terrible for me. From me having to tell Jenny what we really are, to finding Sophia burning in the sun, to me killing Freya. The realm was In chaos. That was certain. And that wasn’t what I needed at the moment.

All I wanted was to try and help Sophia adjust to this new lifestyle but right now I had to leave her alone to settle matters with Jacob and talk to Mike.

I could tell that she was having a very hard time adjusting to her new life as a vampire and I couldn’t blame her. She was turned barely twenty four hours of her finding out that people like me were in existence. She didn’t even understand what Vampires were like, and then Freya changed her into one.

I’m guessing part of the fault was from me. I was the one who mixed my blood with the tea I had given her to drink but at the same time I was grateful I did that because if I didn’t then she’d be dead by now. Really dead. Gone. I wouldn’t see her again. I wouldn’t get to tell her that I was sorry for putting her in danger. And that was unacceptable. I couldn’t bear to think that.

I wished she wasn’t pushing Jenny away though. I could tell Jenny was weirded out by the whole thing but she just wanted to have her best friend by her side. Sophia on the other hand…I really couldn’t tell what was going on with her because she had managed to get perfect at hiding her emotions from her face. Fuck. The whole thing was seriously fucked up and I didn’t even know what to do or where to start from.

There was a knock on my door and I got up from my desk, waking to it. When I opened the door, Jacob was standing there with a scowl on his face. He has been angry at me since and I couldn’t really tell why but I knew it had to do with me trusting Jenny and basically about the whole issue in general. Plus I suspected he was angry with me for just leaving him without notice and leaving the fate of the realm in his hands. Even though he might not admit it, be was angry at me for that.

“What is it?” I asked flatly. I still had a lot to talk to him about, including apologizing for being a dick all those months ago but that wasn’t something I could do right now. I had a lot I was thinking of. I had a lot going on on my mind and I needed to sort those out first to think clearly. I acted rashly whenever I was angry or stressed out anyways.

Like killing Freya. I shouldn’t have done that but I did it anyways.

“Mike is at outside. And he has been calling you to inform you that he’s here, but I wonder what you’ve been thinking of that you didn’t even realize that your best friend has been calling you,” Jacob answered, narrowing his eyes at me. “Even I have been hearing your phone ringing since.”

“I’ll be down in a minute,” I answered, pursing my lips and turning around from me. I knew he was worried about me, even though he was too angry to show it. And I was just as worried about him. But I had too much to think of.

I ran my hands through my hair in frustration after Jacob left without a word, then I rubbed my face.

I had to talk about what I have been avoiding for months. I have to talk about the realm. And I have to talk about being their king. Ruling them. Fuck. It was time already. I needed to stop avoiding the conversation because it wasn’t taking me anywhere.

And now that Sophia was in the picture…I would do anything to make sure she remained safe.

I ran my hands through my hair again. I didn’t know what I was going to tell Mike when I saw him but I had to tell him what had happened. And I could already see the disappointment in his face. He had warned me after all.

I walked out of the study and slammed the door shut in annoyance. I was very frustrated about all that was happening and all of it was my fault. If only I didn’t have that one night stand with her that night. If only I didn’t mark her…if only I didn’t leave the realm and come here to try to have a normal life in the first place, allof these wouldn’t be happening.

I rubbed my face tiredly as I approached the bottom of the stairs and I saw Mike pacing around angrily, rubbing his hair. He paused as I approached and glared at me.

“I want a detailed explanation on all that’s happening. Now.” He snapped and I sighed.

If I was in his shoes I’ll have the same reaction, so I couldn’t blame him for acting the way he was.

“I can’t give you a detailed explanation, I’m afraid,” I answered, because that meant relieving the past 24 hours again and I couldn’t handle that.

“And the other human girl knows?!” He snapped, narrowing his eyes at me. “What? Are you in love with that one too?”

“Now don’t be ridiculous,” I snapped back. “You know I’m not.”

“Do I really?” He answered through gritted teeth. “Because I don’t understand why you just keep telling each and everyone of them our secret! Don’t you understand why it’s called a secret?! You’re not supposed to tell them!”

“I trust the girl,” I murmured in reply.

“Trust is not enough for you to just tell her something as huge as that!” He snapped back in reply. “Wnay the fuck is wrong with you?! What if she tries to tell someone?”

“She can’t. Jenny loves Sophia way too much to give up our secret since it means putting Sophia in trouble as well,” I explained.

“And Freya? You killed her?” Mike asked, his voice lowering now.

“I did,” I confirmed.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I must confess, a tiny part of me is glad you did that. Is glad you killed her. But the other part…fuck, her family will start a rebellion in the realm,” he said.

“She tried to kill what’s mine,” I growled.

“She was supposed to be yours,” he replied. “She was supposed to be yours but you marked another person. A human for that matter! That was like a slap to be face!”

“Yeah well what’s done is done. They’re going to have to deal with it like that. They will not rebel, not under my rule,” I said with a tone of finality but it was my words that caught both Mike as Jacob’s attention the most.

“Not under your rule?” They repeated slowly and I nodded my head.

“I’m taking back my position as the kind,” I answered and the faced Jacob. “Unless you’ve started to enjoy the position?”

“No, of course not,” he answered flatly but he got up from the chair he was sitting, his eyes hardening. “Your own family…me…I wasn’t enough to make you take up the throne but because you want to protect that girl, you will willingly…gladly take up the throne?” He scoffed and shook his head at me in disappointment. “Fuck you, Ian. Fuck. You.” He stalked out and I signed, rubbing my face.

“You’ve fucked up big time,” Mike said with a sigh as I took a seat on the couch. He sat down too.

“But what have gotten into you these past few months? You know I warned you that marking a human girl is bound to cause you trouble. Now look at all that is going on. Are you pleased?” He murmured rhetorically.

“I have no other choice but to take up the throne. Let’s face it, Jacob can’t handle the throne. We all know that. There’s the issue with the witches, the lycanthropes and now with a possible rebellion in the realm. Jacob can’t stop all of these. Jacob can’t get them in line but I can.” I reminded him.

“You’re right,” Mike muttered. “But you need to fix things with your brother. You e known him for decades and you can’t just leave him alone for a girl you’ve barely known for a year.”

“I’m not leaving him alone,” I murmured.

“No, but you’re letting a woman get between your relationship with him and that’s wrong,” he answered, shaking his head slightly. “Where is she? Sophia?”

“I left her in her room and I haven’t gone back to check on her,” I replied quietly. “She’s having a hard time adjusting and I don’t want to worsen things for her so I just kind of left her alone to do her thing.”

“Leaving her alone is a bad idea, Ian. You should be training her. On how to handle the bloodlust. On how to use her strength to her advantage. She’s going to need it, because more people will come after her and we both know it,” he stated. And what scared me was that he was right.

I sighed, getting up from the couch and walking away. I was going upstairs when I bumped into Lyanna. “Where’s Sophia?” I asked her.

“Oh she’s outside,” she replied and I frowned.

“You left her alone outside?” I replied slowly.

“Yeah, she’s busy basking in the sun. I think she’s finding it weird that she’s not burning. Or maybe she’s hoping to burn. Whatever anyways. Can I leave now? I have a lot of things to do and you’ve finally confirmed that the spell worked,” she said.

“I’ll keep in touch with you. Thank you, Lyanna,” I said gratefully.

She sighed and looked at me. “I still can’t believe you left Freya for a human girl. You risked the realm for a human girl. What for exactly? Because I still can’t understand why you did that,” she said softly. “Not only did you put the realm and yourself in danger, you also put her in danger and that’s too much risk. You know that, right?”

“I know that,” I answer quietly.

“Then why did you do it? You should have just let them kill her, and just left everything go back to normal,” she said.

“I’m in love with her. If I let that happen, then I’d die too,” I murmured. “And I marked her. I marked her, Lyanna. You know I can’t help but protect her. And you’ve also been in love once. You understand what I’m going through.”

She sighed and nodded. “I do understand you,” she answered. “I understand that you have an here to protect her at all costs and that’s okay. But make sure you don’t risk the realm and the witches in doing that. You now some of us are still loyal to you no matter what.”

“I know that,” I answered with a small smile. “And thank you for that.”

She gave me a nod, returning my smile. “Now go meet your girl. She has a lot to learn, and tell her she needs to stop making mouth at witches. I was really tempted to fry her brains out that time,” she murmured.

“But you didn’t,” I pointed out.

“Because I’m patient,” she replied and I scoffed. Lyanna was the least patient person I know. “Not everyone will be as patient as me next time.”

“There won’t be a next time,” I said firmly.

She nodded and gave me a stern look. “There better not be.”

She patted my shoulders. “Take care of yourself and thy girl of yours. And make sure to keep the other one’s mouth shut,” she added.

“Jenny will remain quiet,” I assured her.

“Good,” she replied and walked down the stairs. I remained on the stairs, wondering if I should go down and check on Sophia, or if I should go up to my study and think.

After much thought, I decided on going to meet Sophia.