Chapter Thirty-Six

Celina

Mia has taken me out to the palace pool. There are a bunch of other people out here with us; mostly higher-ranked lycans. Mia explained that a lot of the Council’s family are staying at the palace right now for my coronation. Mostly everyone is either at the poolside bar, or keeping to themselves while they lie in the sun or swim. The bar not only serves alcohol but also coffee and food; which is currently what Mia is in line for. I’m just glad we’re outside. I’m still hot from my heat, and sitting by the poolside feels quite nice.

I can hear others talking about me, mostly because they do not know who I am. It’s honestly nice. None of them are approaching me though, because they can smell a male’s scent all over me. Something I’m also okay with.

I watch as several of the men watch her walk towards me with coffee in hand. After handing it to me, she sits across from me. “Don’t worry, I didn’t poison it.” She winks at me and then laughs.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I comment while I take a small sip and then smile. Hazelnut. Not my favorite, but close.

She chuckles. “Same. Eighty years ago I had an ex try to poison me when I broke up with him. Lycan men are such terrible things to date. Not as bad as werewolves though.”

I laugh; sensing his probing eyes on me. I ignore him and focus on Mia. “For me, lycans were way worse. They’re so clingy and territorial. Very possessive. I dated one that tracked my cell phone constantly. My father had to encrypt my cell signal after we broke up because he kept showing up out of nowhere. Werewolves usually tend to give up after a month or so. Lycans take a force greater than the goddess to get them to back off.”

She nods. “Tell me about it. I heard about the things Declan was trying to do to win the Alpha Princess. I never knew he was doing it while you were claimed by Christopher.”

I roll my eyes. “I haven’t heard from him in over a week. I don’t know why, and I’m not questioning it.” I know it has something to do with Chris, but I’m afraid to ask what he exactly did to Declan. To be fair, he did have plenty of warning.

She smiles. “That’s good. I thought the Council was going to send the entire lycan army to sedate him.”

I laugh, “I wouldn’t doubt it.”

“You think I’m joking?” she asks as she raises her brow. “My mother was telling me about all the commotion you caused. I’ve never seen one person completely sideline the entire Council.”

I shrug, “If they had just honored my request to rein Declan in, that could have been avoided. After so many times of that man forcefully trying to claim me, stalk me, or kidnap me, my hands were tied.”

She raises an eyebrow, “How many times did you request that he be kept away from you?”

I shake my head, “Honestly, I lost count. The last time I saw that imbecile, I left Chris alone with him. I haven’t heard from him since.”

She giggles. “I have. He called the Council to complain about Chris beating him to a pulp. My Dad told him he deserved it for going after Chris’s mate and hung up on him. I suspect he’s hiding out with Randaul now.”

I roll my eyes. “Like father like son.”

Mia nods while she smirks. “It’s about time someone put Randaul in his place. He’s been trying to get Chris dethroned for years. I take it that you also had a similar experience, just with the opposite intentions.”

I puff up my chest and try to mimic Randaul’s voice. “I’m the all-knowing rightful king. Accept my son, or I’ll keep sending him after you.” I burst out laughing and cover my mouth; slightly embarrassed by my awful imitation. “That’s basically the extent of our relationship as of late.”

“I think that was your relationship period. Anytime I ever heard from my parents, you were always brought up. You were, and still are, a high topic within the Council.”

I shrug, already knowing that. “That’s what happens when you kill your own mate at eighteen.”

“I heard that,” she tells me as she smirks. I roll my eyes at her while she laughs at her own joke. “Judging by your current mate, I can guess who it was that you killed.”

I sigh. “The past really did come back and bite me on that one.” She barks a laugh while I giggle. “So why did you break up with Chris? I’ve already heard rumors as to how.”

She gives a heavy sigh. “I wanted to leave because it was never going to end any other way than us parting. I put decades into our relationship, and he always made it clear that he was not going to mark me. He only wanted to mark his mate, and I wasn’t going to be good enough. We fought about it the day before our fiftieth anniversary. I wanted to end it with a bang, and make it so I completely burned any chance of rekindling that relationship, so I screwed his bodyguard on the anniversary dinner he made me.”

My jaw drops as a bit of anger touches me. “That’s vicious and just plain cruel.”

She shrugs, unrepentant. “It all seemed to work out for the best. Christopher found his mate, and I’m a lot happier than I have been in a while.”

“That’s still despicable,” I tell her, letting it go after that. “So you’re looking for your mate then?”

She nods. “After wasting so much time on Christopher, I feel like it’s time. That, or finally allow my parents to arrange a mate for me. I’d like to settle down, and after over a century I’m growing tired of waiting.”

I open my mouth to respond when I feel Mara flinch, “Rajin is trying to overtake Chris.”

Startled, I turn my head, already aware he’s been watching me, to see what is wrong. Through the window, I can see Chris’s fur spreading, absolute resounding fury raging behind his eyes. I tense and have to fight the desire to go to him. If I get too close to him like this, unable to shift, he could easily snap my neck or permanently scar or disable me.

“Chris,” I mouth; noticing Mia tensing and closely watching me.

“Rajin keeps yelling mine,” Mara tells me, pacing back and forth slowly. She’s worried and frustrated she can’t protect me.

Acting on instinct, I turn my head to show him his claim; letting him see it’s still there. Only slightly seeing a difference in his body language, I turn my head the other way to show him his secondary claim. I watch until I can see his fur disappearing. Relieved I give him a quizzical look before looking back to Mia.

Mia’s eyes widen as her eyes land on my neck; noticing I bare two sets of Chris’s marks. “Christopher marked you twice?” She squeals as she covers her mouth.

I watch her carefully as I slightly blush. She doesn’t seem upset. In fact, she is acting like an excited friend, rather than a jealous ex-girlfriend. “Yes.”

“At the same time?”

What? I almost laugh at that image. “It was one right after the other.”

Her eyes brighten as she smiles. “It’s astonishing how happy that makes me.” She tosses her hair and her eyes narrow. Before I can blink her eyes flash a dark grey before she grabs my arm and yanks me to the ground. She’s on top of me before I can so much as flinch. I hear Chris growling and snarling, making me look up to see his beast charging toward a petrified man with cups at his feet.

An audible growl escapes me as I flinch, catching the distinct scent of Wolfsbane coming from the spilled liquid. Two men start running towards Chris as the man he was charging at starts shifting into a tan lycan.

“Come on,” Mia yells at me, grabbing my hand. “I got her. Go help Chris,” she tells Ruben when he steps outside; already halfway shifted.

“What the hell,” I demand from Mia while she yanks me to my feet, dragging me inside.

“Traitors, that’s what,” she growls as she continues to drag me down the hall. She pauses in midstride, allowing me time to look back to see Chris ripping out the throat of the man that was approaching Mia and me.

I look to see why Mia has paused. Leroy is stopped in the middle of the hall, looking right at Mia. “Leroy, help Chris,” I tell him, pulling my arm free from Mia. “There were three, now they’re at least down to two.”

Leroy’s eyes snap to me and nods before running off toward the scene. I start walking quickly back to the pool as an alarm begins to sound. That’s not good. I start running at that point, anxious to do what I can to help.

“Celina,” Mia yells as she runs to catch up to me. “Where are you going?”

“To help,” I tell her; trying to figure out what exactly I can do. I can’t fight, but if needed I’m a great distraction. There is a distinct sound of yelling, and I’m going straight for it. I wish I had something I could fight with though.

“Sephtis,” Mara growls while she tries to get ready to shift. I flinch while she yelps, electric pain ricocheting through both our bones. “He’s looking for you.”

“What is he doing here?” I demand from her while Mia yells something at me.

“He’s with Chris,” Mara tells me, making blood drain from my face.

“Celina, you can’t go that way,” Mia yells after me. “It’s not safe.”

“No, it’s not.” I agree, fully taking advantage of her confusion. “Sephtis is with Chris.”

“Who?” She demands. “How do you know that name?”

I ignore her, seeing Chris wrestling with that godforsaken pure white lycan. He has Chris by the throat and pinned to the ground. Panic painfully starts spreading through me, fueling my legs and pushing them harder.

“Celina stop,” Mia yells; frustration easily heard in her voice. She can’t outright tackle me, or start dragging me away. It’s a punishable offense to go against royalty and it’s the only thing I have going for me right now. She’s debating if it’ll be worth the hassle it’ll cause if I were to press charges.

I push open the door to the pool and yell Chris’s name. It’s enough to make every fighting pair stop to look at me. Chris recovers faster and manages to shove Sephtis off him, and get a good slash across his face in. Sephtis growls as he covers his face while Chris gets to his feet.

“Come on,” Mia yells as she grabs my arm and drags me back inside. “It’s not safe.”

“Princess Celina, Miss Emilia, you need to come with me right now,” Exzecial orders from behind us. “Quickly.” Mia starts dragging me away at that point while I watch Sephtis lunge toward Chris. I try to fight her, but I’m too weak.

“He’ll be fine,” Exzecial tells me as he picks me up and tosses me over his shoulder. “You won’t be if he gets past your mate.”