Chapter 200

“Does that mean we finally get some rest?” Estella asked, leaning against the wall. She was pale and shaking, and light drifted over her skin as if she was about to shift. “I really, really need some sleep.”

“Yeah. I think we all do come on.”

Candido walked toward her, and it looked as if she would push him away, but he nudged her hands away from him and swept her off her feet, cradling her close. I tried to scream, but no sound came out. Raven got to her feet as he walked away towards the light on the other side of the cave.

“I’m not a damsel. Put me down, ‘Dido.”

“Right now, you are a damsel, so I won’t put you down. You can barely keep your eyes open. I think your dignity can take a hit until we find a space on a truck for you to sleep.”

I hurried as fast as possible to get in front of him and block his path. How dare he do that in front of me? How dare she lure him into carrying her, getting closer to him, and driving a wedge further between us? Then, my legs felt trapped in place, and Candido got further and further away from me.

I turned, searching for whom could be doing this. Ian stepped toward me.

“For the next hour, you cannot speak. Your idiocy has already caused enough problems, and Estella needs rest in peace and quiet.”

I tried to fight through the enchantment, but it was too strong. I looked over at Candido as he adjusted Estella in his arms and walked out of the cave into the moonlight without even glancing back at me. I was so mad that I couldn’t even think. Tears streamed down my face. I looked around, searching for Cillian. He would carry me if I asked. He’d carried me this face, and I knew the sight of it would definitely make Candido jealous no matter how he acted otherwise. It had to. He believed so much in mates, just as much as I did. The sigh of his real mate in another man’s arms would definitely make him jealous.

It had to.

I knew he was still upset about seeing me out with Cillian and probably about hearing that I had kissed him, but he was just trying not to show it. Damian’s words had gotten to him. He was probably thinking about how Stella would react if she knew that he was still getting jealous over me. I’d make him show it. I’d make him realize that we’re supposed to be together.

“If you’re looking for Cillian to be a part of this little game,” Ian said. “He’s gone. He had other things to do than entertain you today. I would suggest you hurry up, or you will be left behind.”

I couldn’t believe it. I should be used to Ian talking to me like this. he had no respect for me or werewolves. He was a vampire through and through, and that didn’t bother me as much. I had already come to terms with the fact that even though we were related through my mother, we weren’t family, and we would never be family because I belonged with Candido.

I looked around, searching for someone who would help me make Candido stop playing around and finally start treating me like his future luna and wife. No one looked at me. No one looked like they had even thought about me. I couldn’t believe all these unloyal people who claimed to be members of Moonshadow, who claimed to be members of Blue Moon, who wouldn’t even care about their future luna. They all knew that it had to be me! They all saw me on the television. They saw the mark on my chest. They saw how Candido treated me before Estella showed up. I wouldn’t forget this when I became luna. I would make sure that Candido remembered this and punished them all for all of this.

Falcon walked past me and helped a few other people onto a truck. Due to the battle, we’d lost another truck, so more people would have to walk. I tried to get onto the truck and take the last spot on it, but Moth stood in my way as someone else was hauled onto the truck bed.

I tried to get past him. I tried to tell him to get out of my way, but I still couldn’t talk. I tried to shove past him, and my hand met with a hard invisible wall. Pain shot up my arm, and I hissed at him.

“You’re not leaning. You’re not bleeding, and you barely have a scratch on you. You’re walking.”

Moth leaned to one side with a hand cupped over his rib cage. I stomped my foot as Ian, Messiah, and Shiloh walked past me. Raven was on Messiah’s back, and I looked at Shiloh expectantly.

He scoffed and walked past me.

“We only care about family,” Messiah said as he walked past, and I realized that Raven was fast asleep.

I cried and was tempted to just sit down until someone changed their mind, but as the rest of the group got further away, not even stopping to look back at me, I started shuffling after them.

They would all pay for this.

It felt like we had walked for hours. As soon as the spell broke, I started talking.

“Everything hurts!” I cried. “I’m so dizzy. I can’t… I can’t walk anymore.”

“Then don’t,” Shiloh said. No one slowed down or looked back as I started walking into trees. I couldn’t even see Candido.

Could he hear me? Wasn’t he going to come back for me?

“Company!” Someone cried.

My heart leaped, and I hurried forward, trying to get closer to Candido so he would protect me.

“Easy!” A man’s voice cried. “It’s just us!”

Someone else looked up, and I watched a whole group of vampire sag with relief.

“Where the hell have you been?” Shiloh asked, laughing and stepping forward to hug the man that had come out of the shadows.

He had dark hair and a brilliant smile.

“Sorry, we got tied up in the southern region. You look like hell, Shiloh,” he said. “Was it so bad? Couldn’t make it a month without me?”

Shiloh wrapped an arm around his neck, catching him in a chokehold. “You little brat!”

I watched them, thinking it was ridiculous that they were playing around right now. More people came out of the darkness, and the caravan stopped for a moment.

“Cillian sent us to make sure you all made it back… He said that I should deliver a message to Princess Raven.”

Shiloh rolled his eyes and patted his shoulders. “’Ssiah! A message for her highness.”

Raven’s eyes popped open as Messiah came closer. The newcomer smiled at her.

“Princess Raven,” he greeted with an incline of his head.

She blinked, and then her eyes brightened with recognition as Messiah let her slide off his back.

“Peter!” She cried and threw her arms around him. “It’s so good to see you!”

Peter wrapped his arms around her gently. “It is good to see you too.”

She pulled back. “How was the south? Find anything good?”

“A great deal, but the Commander has sent a message with me… He would like you to join him and the king for the rest of the hunt.”

A vicious glint filled her gaze. “I’m so game.”

She pulled away with a graceful turn and a flutter of her fingers. “You make sure these two don’t end up dead, okay?”

Then, she vanished on the spot, and he turned to me. His eyes widened as he looked at me. He removed his cloak and approached me, draping it around my shoulders. It was so warm as he smiled at me with kind eyes.

“You must be cold,” he said. “Are you certain you’re okay to walk?”

Messiah scoffed and walked ahead as I shook my head. He kneeled and offered to carry me. I slipped my arms around his neck, grateful that someone seemed to be acting like I was injured.

“You must be Princess Hedy,” he said. “The family resemblance is very strong.”

“I’m not a princess.”

“Well, since Princess Hedwig is no longer with us, the title should pass to you, but if it makes you uncomfortable, I understand. You have lived in the werewolf world for quite a long time. Do you remember much about her?”

“No,” I said as he began to walk after the caravan.

“That’s a shame. She was a lovely woman, a keeper of an artifact at that.”

“What’s an artifact?” I asked. “People keep talking about it, but no one is explaining what it is.”

“Forgive them. They likely just assume that you already know. There are three artifacts, and each of them has a specific tie to the Moon Goddes. There is even one said to sway the hearts and minds of her children.”

I swallowed at that thought. Could it make Candido want me again? Could it make him forget Estella?

“How do you find it?”

He chuckled. “That I don’t know, but the one I spoke of is called the Heart of the Moon.”