#Chapter 403 – An Angry King Ella
“Oh, Ella,” Cora sighs, her shoulders slumping as she sees my reaction to her words. She strides over to me and wraps me in a big hug. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs into my hair, “I shouldn’t have said it like that.” “No,” I sniff, you’re right – I should have listened – ”
“It’s okay. You didso goodby her,” Cora says, loosening her grip and turning me towards the little girl asleep in her bed. “She wasn’t going to make it, Ella,” Cora whispers as we look down at the girl. “Not even a few more days maybe not even through the night. And look at her now.”
Tears are streaming freely down my cheeks now. “She’s perfect,” I murmur, and Cora nods.
“So, you did a good thing,” she sighs, wiping at my tears in her own brusk way, “but we still haveworkto do. All right?”
“Okay,” I say nodding and looking around the room. “Who’s next?” “A little boy,” she says, looking down at her clipboard. “Named Philip.” “A sweet little boy!” I gasp, and then I bury my face in my hands and start crying again, thinking of my own sweet baby – and if he ever got sick – “Ella,” Cora sighs next to me, and I hear her take a deep steadying breath.
“We are not going to get through this if you keep crying all the time.” “I can’t help it,” I sniff, looking up at her and wiping again at my tears, which just seem to keep coming. “Do you think…if these kids don’t have a home, Sinclair will…” “If you go home tonight and ask Sinclair to adopt all these kids,” she says slowly, raising her eyebrows and shaking her head at me, though unable to keep a smile from starting on her lips, “he’s gonna flip, Ella.” “But -” ”
Move on, kid!” she laughs, giving me a little push between the shoulder blades to keep me moving. “Let’s go help Philip!”
“Philip,” I say, taking a deep breath and nodding steadily, trying to put my motherly impulse to save and keep and raiseallthe children away, though it is very difficult. We don’t have far to go, but as we walk I take my baby from Conner’s arms, even though I know I’ll have to give him back in about two seconds.
“What do o you think, baby,” I murmur to Rafe, looking down and watching him sleep, warmth crawling through me and chasing away my sadness as I look down into his perfect little face. ” Should we bring home about a dozen new orphan siblings for you today? Do you think daddy will be mad?”
Conner drops Cora off first and then drives us back to the palace. To my extreme disappointment, I was convinced not to bring any children back with me tonight, so it’s just me and Rafe in the car with him. Conner surprises me by driving around to the back of the palace and pressing a button at the top of the car, opening a wide black door.
“Oh,” I say, leaning forward curiously. “So thereisa garage…”
Conner laughs a little and confirms my suspicions. As he pulls into a parking spot very close to what I assume is the entrance, I place a hand on his shoulder. “You did really well today, Conner,” I say softly. “Thank you, Luna,” he says, flashing me a smile. “You should…” and I hesitate here, not really knowing what to say. “I should what?” he asks, curious. “Well, I know that you’re part of the military,” say, taking my hand away and twisting my fingers together anxiously, “and I know that you probably have all sorts of ambitions there, but…well, if you’d like to be part of my team, even just for now, and help me continue doing this work, we’d be really happy to have you.”
I smile at him, hoping it’s an offer he’ll consider, and hoping even more that it doesn’t derail his own plans. “I’ll think about it, Luna,” he says, meeting my eyes with a very genuine smile. “I promise I will.” And then we both nod at each other and get out of the car, me unstrapping the baby and leaving his car seat where it is – because he’s just going to need it tomorrow anyway.
Conner leads me through the winding halls beneath the palace to an elevator, which we climb into. He presses a button and swipes a card from his pocket and, when it reaches the second floor, I’m very surprised to find us in the hallway where my personal rooms are. “Oh,” I say, my eyebrows arching almost to my hairline. “Well, that’s terribly convenient, isn’t it?” “Only the best for our Queen,” Conner says, gesturing forward so that I can step out ahead of him. I smile at him and do so, but frown and turn when he stays in the elevator. “You aren’t coming?” Nah,” he says, smiling at me and shrugging. “I’ve got to get back to the barracks, Luna. Have to get some rest so that I’m fresh tomorrow.
I roll my eyes at myself – ofcourse. What was I thinking, that he was going to come and hang out with me and Sinclair? I wave goodbye to him and wish him a good night’s sleep, considering that I’ll just have to give my own report to Sinclair, even though I figured Conner would handle it.
But still. I can handle that, right? As long as I don’t fall asleep on my feet first. But when I push open the door to our suite, I can tell already that Sinclair is mad. Frowning, I close the door behind me, looking towards where he sits at his new desk by the window, already glowering at me with his arms crossed. “What is it?” I ask, confused.
“Ella,” Sinclair snaps, standing and striding over to me as he gestures to the darkness outside the window. “You were goneall day- and while I don’t care about that, you didnotanswer your phone the entire time -”
“My phone,” I say, frowning up at him and passing the baby over to the arms he holds out, silently asking for him. “I don’t even think I brought it
“Yes,” Sinclair growls, frowning down at me even as he lifts Rafe to his shoulder and begins to lovingly stroke his back, welcoming him home and giving me a lecture at the same time. ” Irealizedthat you left your phone behind after panicking for three hours that something had happened to you.”
“Why didn’t you just contact Conner?” “I did!” “Well then what’s the problem?” I ask, exhausted and crossing my arms over my chest, truly not getting it and honestly maybe too tired to try.
“The problem,” he growls, turning to give Rafe a kiss on the cheek and run his eyes over him, ensuring that he’s okay – which, of course, he is. “Is that I was hesitant about you even going to the Refugee Center, let alone staying thereall day- ”
“Well, we didn’t go to the Center all day,” I murmur, turning away from him and heading to our expansive closet which is basically a second bedroom where we keep all of our stuff in beautiful, neat little cabinets and racks. “We went to the Wolf Camp almost immediately.” “WHAT!” I turn to glare at my mate where he stands at the door. “I don’t know why you’re freaking out, Dominic,” I snap, starting to lose my patience a little bit. “We were totally fine, and -”
“It’s incredibly dangerous in those camps,” Sinclair says, storming forward to loom over me. “I donotwant you and Rafe there where anything could happen -”
“Too bad,” I say, objecting to the command in his voice and crossing my arms, looking up at him stubbornly and slowly shaking my head. “Because we’re going back tomorrow. Actually, not back – we’re going to the Human Camp” And then I see Sinclair’s face turn a shade of red I’ve never seen before. I blink in surprise, taking a step back as I watch him just get…angrier and angrier. My breath hitches in my throat – not because I’m actually afraid I know he’d never hurt me – but I’ve just never…pushed him this far.
