Chapter Sixty-Two

Celina

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up after the battle, doing press control, and celebrating our partial victory. Randaul’s body was moved to be burned, along with Damian’s left arm. At this point, he could be alive or dead. If he is alive, it’s going to be a long time for him to recover from this battle. If that is the case, hopefully, his damaged ego will keep him in permanent seclusion.

A few hours into our clean-up, we found Chris’s mother dead, and Exzecial missing. It doesn’t look like she tried to fight back, and her heart is gone. We found this out when Ruben and Chris dropped to their knees and cried out in pain while they clutched at their chests. Ruben was the one to find her.

The council had survived the battle, and so did my family. My family did fight in the battle and the only council members who fought were the Bordaga’s and Aron. While Chris and Ruben were dealing with the grief from their mother’s death, I had changed into a white silk robe and spoke with the press to assure them that the kingdom is safe, and answer all of their questions.

Finally, after darkness had fallen, everything had calmed down. I was still dressed in a robe and Chris was still with Ruben making funeral arrangements for his mother. I had poured through security footage to see if his father had been kidnapped and his mother murdered. Unfortunately, I caught sight of the grizzly scene in the reflection of the window he escaped out of; Exzecial’s hand going through Amelia’s chest in order to stop their argument.

Never would I thought Exzecial would kill his own wife, that’s why I never banned her from being near him. I mean, who kills their centuries-long mate? Even Chris was confident in it, and Ruben. Ruben was the one to push me to allow it, so I really didn’t want to be the one to tell him that his father is a murderer.

I wish I didn’t have to tell Chris this. More than anything, I wish we could bring her back and stop Exzecial from murdering his own mate. In the video, he doesn’t even look like he’s in pain. He just scampers out the window and takes off running. Now I have two peons to track down.

Damian’s scent trail went cold, and Mara couldn’t even pick up on his scent. That’s why I’m hoping he died after his escape. The last bit of evidence I found of him was tire tracks on the main road from someone hitting their brakes. Next to the blackened tracks is a human corpse. Because his scent has fully disappeared, I’ve been listening for any news of a crash or an abandoned car. Nothing so far.

My stomach is healed so I go out onto the balcony to clear my head and get some fresh air. On the table Chris and I usually eat breakfast at, I find a note carefully placed on it, with a small silver diamond engagement ring resting on it to weigh it down. With dread, I cautiously open it. A Polaroid photo falls out, and when I pick it up, I notice it’s of me walking down the stairs earlier today. I shudder involuntarily but read the note.

“My dearest Celina, you’ve yet again won another battle between the two of us. Mara is beautiful by the way, but not nearly as magnificent as you. I wish I had been able to claim you as mine tonight, but yet again you resisted me. Don’t worry about me. Sephtis is in a bit of shock from losing to you and losing our arm, so it might be a moment before you hear from us again. I’ll be sure to keep tabs on you and let you know that we’re doing okay.

“I hope you treasure your moment as Queen of the Beasts, Celina. The title suits you, and the lycan look looks good on you. The monster look was never one that I was happy you portrayed me as. Now with one arm missing maybe the addition of a hook will help me seem more like it.

“I will think of you fondly, and constantly. Be safe my dearest Celina, and stop making enemies. Your little friend, Aron, seems to be your latest rival. Don’t worry about him, love. He’s harmless to you, but you may want to keep an eye on that mate of yours, and his brother. Aron doesn’t seem as fond of them as he is of you.

-Yours until the end, Damian.”

I roll my eyes and set the note down. Mara lets out a furious growl while I walk down the balcony stairs. There is nothing ordinary about him. The more I hurt him, and the more I reject him, the harder he comes back swinging. He’s never going away.

Both Mara and I are agitated by this realization so I let Mara take control to shift and run in the woods behind the palace. While Mara controls our body, I sit in the back of our mind and try to relax. It’s not working, but I’m still sore from today’s battles.

I’m not sure why Damian is obsessed with me, but he must be reconsidering his affections now. Right? I mean, I did just sever his arm and nearly killed him again. Maybe he’ll die in his sleep tonight. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll change his mind about claiming me, and just try to kill me. I still feel like it’ll be easier to fight him if his sole purpose is to rip out my throat. My only hope at this point is that he doesn’t force a mate to survive his injury like he did the last time he was this close to death.

Mara stops in her run and glances over her shoulder. She starts circling and begins panting excitedly. I sit up in the back of our mind and all I can hear from her is, “Rajin.” She starts racing toward home, and that’s when I realize we’re miles from home.

She covers the distance quickly and I retake control of our body while I come out of the shift, and walk out of the woods. Chris is leaning over the railing and smiles when he sees me.

He meets me at the bottom of the stairs with a long shirt that drops to my knees. After I put it on I jump so I can wrap my arms around his neck and give him a long kiss. His arms wrap around my waist and I feel him lean into our kiss.

I pull back after a few minutes and look him over. “How are you doing?”

He just gives a small shake of his head; his eyes unable to hide the sadness that the rest of his body is. “I’ll live, but it’s going to take some time until I can fully understand what happened.”

He gives me an unwilling look. “Did you find anything on the cameras?”

I bite my lip and look away. “Look how beautiful the stars are tonight,” I tell him in a feeble attempt to change the subject.

“Cel,” he starts in a tired voice, “tell me what you found.”

He puts his finger under my chin to lift it. There is so much pain and emptiness in his eyes, that I jerk my chin away. I can’t add to it.

He takes a heavy deep breath before trying again. He recaptures my chin to make me look at him. “Did he kill my mother?”

I bite my lip and nod. “They were arguing before he did,” I tell him unwillingly. “He didn’t even hesitate after he did it. He just ran.”

A sharp growl rips through him while the rest of his body tenses; except for the hand he holds my face with. That is still incredibly gentle and relaxed. “Why would he do this?”

“To avoid his sentencing,” I guess. I touch his bicep but remain still. “I’m sorry Chris. If I had thought he was capable of this, I would have had him in solitary.”

“Don’t apologize for that demon,” Chris growls, lifting my chin gently. “None of this is your fault. What kind of sicko murders his own mate?”

He looks me over and pulls me into his arms. “I could never even imagine hurting you. I can’t even yell at you.”

He pulls me back a little and holds up the photo of me. “Speaking of hurting you, where did this come from?”

I roll my eyes. “My number one fan left it for me on the table, with a note and a ring. I think he was planning on winning today.”

“Note,” he asks, his brow furrowing. “What note?”

I glance at the table and see that it’s gone, along with the ring. “It was right there…” I tell him, trailing off.

Chris lets go of me and walks to the table. He looks around it before sniffing the metal and looking even more confused than before. “I can’t find a scent that someone was even here, not even yours.”

“Are you sure,” I ask him and walk over to where I had found the note. At the very least, my scent should be here.

“What did the note say,” Chris asks, looking more frustrated than anything.

“Only that he’s going to lay low for a while and he’ll be keeping an eye on me and will send me updates from time to time.” My brow furrows while I try to remember the exact words of the note. “Also that I need to watch your back, and Ruben’s, since Aron doesn’t seem to like the two of you. How would he even know that?”

“It looks like he has more friends here than we realize,” Chris muses while he thinks about it. “This is something we need to look into.”

I just shake my head, annoyed that my life will not be calming down any time soon. I walk over to Chris and wrap my arms around his waist. “I’m not in any hurry to do that right now. Aron can wait until morning. How about we take a much-needed bath, and we can just talk?”

He presses closer to me with a small smile on his face. “That is just what I need right now.”

I give him a serious face. “King Christopher, you are under orders to relax for the night with your amazing mate. Penalties will be dealt should you go against these orders. Do you accept?”

He smirks, “What sort of penalties?”

I grab his wrist and nip at it. “Maybe you’ll have to wait to find out.” I take his hand and lead him into our bedroom. Hell will always be here, but some peaceful moments will not be kept, and some need to be created to survive the maddening chaos, and that’s just what I intend to do. Live in a small moment now then step into the hellfire tomorrow.