Chapter 196
CAMILLA’S P.O.V
I took a step back and eyed the stranger with a wary look. “I’m sorry but who are you? Why have you been looking for me?”
She opened her mouth to speak but at the last minute, she decided against it and cleared her throat. Marie was clutching my arm and I wasn’t sure if it was for my sake or hers. The stranger looked familiar but that was all, I couldn’t put a name to her face and I couldn’t tell if I had actually met her before.
“My name is Christine and I am a representative of the royal family. You have to come with me,” she announced and my spine straightened. I turned to Marie in a panic and she pulled me closer to her.
“Why do you want to see her?” Marie asked, her voice shaky but fierce. “You cannot just come in here and demand to see her for no reason.”
Christine raised a brow and I saw a small smirk grow on her lips. I could have sworn I saw something sad in her expression but I blinked and suddenly it was gone. “I could have you taken by force or you can come with me free of charge. Either way, you will come to me, how it happens is your choice.”
Marie pursed her lips and I knew she was going to defend me again so I gently released my hand from her grip and turned to her with a small smile. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”
“You can’t just go!” she exclaimed but I didn’t want to make more of a scene. We already had the entire market staring at us and I didn’t want to make matters worse. She pulled me down so she could whisper. “What if your mate is the one who sent them? What if they are here to take you back to him?”
“Then I’ll go back,” I responded simply. “You don’t want to be a part of this, you should go
1/6
+5
Chapter 196
home.” I handed her my basket and turned to Christine. “Lead the way.”
She seemed surprised that I agreed to go with her. I was led towards the horses and I was stunned when one of the guards dismounted his horse for me. I blinked at them. wondering if it were some kind of mistake. Guards didn’t just dismount for random people but neither of them blinked and I just assumed it was some kind of courtesy.
I struggled to get on but by the time I was seated, the rest came almost naturally. I
couldn’t help but wonder if I had done it sometime in the past six years. The ride was quiet and tense and I noticed Christine glancing over at me every few seconds. I wanted to shrink away but I hadn’t done anything wrong so I kept my shoulders squared and pretended not to notice her. if her tactic was to scare me then she was going about it the
wrong way.
We arrived at their residence and I was stunned. It was one of the larger inns in the town and from what I could see, they were the only ones who stayed there. I could see the maids and the footmen watching with varying degrees of curiosity and amusement. Most of them already knew who I was from Peggy’s bakery.
I was led into one of the rooms and before I could say another word, the door was shut behind me leaving me alone. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there alone but it felt like hours before Christine joined me. Up close, she was slightly intimidating but there was also something fragile about her. I looked her over and noticed the tie around her wrist and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling softly.
“Do you have children?” I asked and she cocked her head to the side so I gestured to the tie. “It seems like something a child would make.”
“A child did make it but she isn’t mine. She’s my niece,” she explained and my eyes widened in understanding.
“You must be close to your sister. Where is she?”
+5
Chapter 196
“I don’t know,” she admitted finally before gesturing for me to take a seat. I hesitated before doing so. “What’s your name?”
“Don’t pretend like you don’t already know,” I mumbled. “Look, I know Tyson sent you. I appreciate you coming all this way to look for me but I am not going back to him. I don’t care if you’re the royal family or not. I will run the first chance I get.”
“Wait a minute, Tyson?” she asked and I nodded. “Tyson has been dead for almost two years now. You should know that.”
I sat there trying to marinate her words. Tyson was dead. It sounded insane, it sounded crazy to think. He was alive, he should have been. He was the entire reason I had stayed put. He was the one thing that I feared. To hear that he was dead was a breath of fresh air but it also made the hair at the back of my neck stand up because her last sentence finally dawned on me. I turned to her with furrowed brows.
“What do you mean by I should know that?” I asked. “Was I there when he died?”
“What do you mean by were you-” she cut herself off mid sentence and cursed. “This is why you didn’t come home. You don’t remember anything.”
“Home?” I asked but she was saved from responding when a guard burst through the door.
He was talking too quickly for me to piece together his words. I could have if I tried but I was more focused on her slip up. Did I know Christine? What did she mean by home? There were too many things in my mind and I was learning too much too quickly. My head was starting to hurt and I just needed a second to myself so that I could breathe. While I was still trying to calm my raging pulse, two more people burst through the room and I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Peggy and Marie.
“You cannot take Camilla!” Peggy exclaimed with her arms crossed over her chest. “She has done nothing wrong. She has been with us for the past six years. Whatever you think
3/6
Chapter 196
she did-”
I was stunned that they were defending me and lying for me. I was a stranger and yet they were going through such extents for me. The corners of my eyes welled up with tears and I tried to discreetly wipe them away.
“No one is taking or hurting anyone,” Christine seemed frustrated. “Can everyone just take a breather and allow me speak for a second. Goddess help me.” Peggy and Marie
glanced at each other but stayed silent. “I don’t want to hurt Camilla. I came to take her
home.”
“You are not taking her back to that deranged bastard who tried to hurt her. You are a woman yourself, why would you even do that?” Marie sounded disgusted as she spoke. “You are part of the royal family and you should be protecting all the wolves and not-”
“Will everyone shut up!”
Everyone went silent. It felt like even the air had stopped to listen to Christine. She ran her hands through her hair in frustration and turned to me. “Look, we don’t have a lot of time to explain because Ryker will be here soon and he is not going to be as patient as me.”
“Who is Ryker?”
She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by some heavy footsteps. She muttered a curse under her breath and rushed towards the door. I could hear her talking but I couldn’t hear who she was talking to. Marie and Peggy turned to me with furrowed brows but I was just as confused as they were.
I heard Christine shouting after someone and the voices started to get closer. Marie must have seen the panic on my face because she rushed over to stand in front of me. She intertwined her fingers in mine and in that moment, I knew what it was like to have a sister and a friend. She gave me a small smile and despite the fact that she was just as terrified as I was, she stood facing the door waiting for the threat to emerge and when he
4/6
Chapter 196
finally did, I was left mouth agape.
He was hands down the most handsome man I had ever seen in my life. His eyes were a stormy grey and as he took me in, I saw a thousand different emotions go through him. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out and he ran his hands down his five
o’clock stubble.
“If I were you,” Christine began in a soft voice with her eyes fixed on Marie, “I would take a step back because you don’t want to be in his way.”
Marie ground her teeth but refused to move and a warning growl erupted from the man’s chest. I assumed he was the Ryker that Christine was talking about so I placed my free hand on Marie’s shoulders. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”
She was not happy to say the least but she nodded curtly and stepped away. Ryker’s eyes never left mine but I could tell that he had noticed her movement because some of the tension bled out of his shoulders. I could feel my wolf stir inside of me which was weird because I hadn’t shifted while in Tyson’s pack. It must have happened during my six year gap.
Ryker took slow and deliberate steps towards me, his eyes running over me like I was an apparition and he was scared that I would disappear. He reached a hand up to touch my cheeks and I felt sparks erupt from where his skin touched mine.
“Camilla,” my name on his lips was like a prayer and I saw raw and undiluted hurt in his eyes. “Where have you been?”
“I’ve been right here.”
“Fu*ck,” he cursed before cupping the back of my head and pulling my lips to his.
It was one touch but it was electric and it solidified everything I needed to know. Tyson was dead and the man in front of me- Ryker- was my mate.
