Chapter 95
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It’s not like Ragnar to go all day without checking in. He left all of his belongings here. Laptops, cell phones, his clothes, and the little device that he uses to track all of us. How the hell did he get a tracker on each of us? What really worries me is that even Ivar called to ask if I’ve seen him all day. To make matters worse, it started to rain a couple of hours ago.
“Still no sign of him, my lady,” Eliza, my grandmother’s handmaid, bows. She said she was taking the one she assigned to me out for ‘special training“.
“I’ll call Ivar to let him know,” I nod.
I start to make my way up the stairs when the doors burst open behind me. Eliza and a couple of other staff members appear out of nowhere, ready to charge the intruder. He’s changing out of his pelt. Steam surrounds him as he shifts back into his skin.
“Stand down,” Eliza growls at the others. She turns to me and bows before excusing herself and taking the others with her.
“Dude, where the hell have you been?” I demand as he shakes some of the water out of his hair. I do my best to try to maintain eye contact with him.
“I left a note,” he shrugs.
“You are the fucking Lycan King. You can’t just leave a note. What the hell is wrong with you?” I growl.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would take this long. I know this is going to sound crazy, but twenty minutes ago, it was early morning for me.”
“What?” I don’t know whether I should step down or not. He is not modest at all.
“I was at the King’s Temple,” he elaborates.
“Oh,” I nod. “Okay, well, next time, say that. Ivar and your father are probably worried out of their minds, too. He’s been calling me all day. You’re like five minutes away before they send out a search party. I am going to run up and get my phone, I point upstairs and then at him. “Shower. Clean clothes. I will get you something warm, but now that I think about it. It sounds dumb considering you don’t feel the cold.”
“I would still appreciate it. I haven’t eaten all day, apparently. Thought I would be back before breakfast.”
“Okay, and you’ll tell me what’s going on? If you can or want to?”
“Of course,” he nods and steps up towards. I avert my gaze as he gets closer. “I’m sorry I made you worry, Little Wolf. I really didn’t know it would take this long.”
“I believed you when you said you were at the King’s Temple. No offense, but the vibes are a little medieval, and you know. Merlin and stuff.” What the hell is wrong with me?
He laughs, pinching my chin to keep me from looking away. He places a chaste kiss on my lips and moves past me, careful not to touch me. I stand here unable to move. Once I hear a door shut somewhere, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in.
“Bastard,” I whisper to myself.
“My lady?” I look up to see that Eliza is back.
“You didn’t see anything, did you?” I ask, embarrassed out of my mind.
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11:04 am D
Chapter 95
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“Not if you didn’t want me to, Miss,” she chuckles.
“I think we can finally have that dinner we spoke about earlier,” I try to play it off.
“I will bring it up to you both.”
“Study?”
“Of course,” she bows.
“You don’t have to keep doing that. It makes me a little uncomfortable,” I shake my head.
“How about a courteous nod?” she demonstrates.
“Is that the compromise?” I laugh.
“Yes,” she grins.
“I’ll take the nod over the bow,” I agree.
“Of course, however, in front of others, I must be formal. As you are a princess at court,” she reminds me.
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“Okay,” I nod, wondering what that really entails. “Is there a book or manual of what that means somewhere, and is it available to me? I am new to this, and I don’t want to make an even bigger fool of myself. Apparently, people like me, and I think they deserve for me to know more about their culture and what they expect. I’m freaking out, and my grandmother decided that now was a good time to round up the armadas.”
“The first thing you want to know about Lycans is that it is always a good time to round up the armadas,” she smiles, tucking her arms behind her back. “And yes, there are several books and journals available to you on what it means for you to be a princess at court. It is why I am here. She asked me to help you when you were ready.”
“Does she do that a lot? Is one of her affinities predicting the future, because I swear she knows what I’m going to do before I do it”
“Not that I am aware of,” she smiles. “But that is one of the reasons why she is as special as she is. Not just anyone serves the King as she does.”
“Right. I should go call Ivar. He’s probably freaking out. Thank you so much for your help. Can we start tomorrow after
work?”
“Yes, she nods.
‘Sweet
I will be up with your dinner as soon as it’s served.”
“You’re the best, Eliza,” I say and rush up the stairs to get my phone. It’s already ringing when I get there. “Hello?”
“Tell me you’ve heard something. My dad is freaking out,” Ivar says. I’ve never heard him more stressed than he is now, and he’s stressed out all of the time.
“He just got here, I let out a sigh of relief. I made him take a shower. He shifted”
“Did he fight?”
“No, he said he was at the King’s Temple. That he lost track of time.”
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Chapter 95
“Thank fuck. Did he seem okay to you? Nothing out of place?”
“Nothing at all. He actually seemed like he was in a good mood,” I admit. “He was being very Ragnar.”
“Good, I’ll tell my Dad to send the seekers home. He’s probably going your way.”
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“All right. Sorry about that. I definitely think he needs to be reprimanded by someone who causes a scene like your father,” I laugh.
“Yes, me too,” he agrees. “Thanks, Soph. I’ll see ya.”
He hangs up, and I walk down to the kitchen to inform Eliza that the King might be joining us for dinner. The first thing my grandmother says is that he is always hungry. When I get back to the room, Ragnar is sitting on my bed with a phone in each of his hands. He turns one on, and it immediately starts going off with different notification sounds.
“My dad is on his way,” he smiles.
“I just got off the phone with your brother. I know he is. I went down to tell Eliza that. Are you okay? Did something happen?” I ask, taking a step closer.
He’s clothed now. Thank goodness. He holds out his hand for me, and I hesitate to take it. Every time I do, I see him wince. I don’t know what to think of the scar, but I do know that I don’t want him to hurt. I think we’ve both had enough of that.
“Come,” he waves me forward. I reach out to take his hand. He pulls me in so I’m standing between his legs. I can’t help it now that he’s this close. I hug him because I was crazy worried. When I try to pull away as quickly as possible, he tightens his hold on me. “It’s okay,” he reassures me. “I’m okay.”
I give in to the hug and lean into him for a moment. I roll my eyes when he takes a strand of my hair to smell it. I pull away, and this time he lets me.
“Don’t do that again. Even if it’s just for a moment. Leave a longer note or take one of your phones. You have four of them,” I pat his head. I pull back when he snaps his teeth in the direction of my hand when I’m pulling away.
“You’re right. I was instructed not to go with any personal belongings-”
“Hold that thought. I told Eliza we’d take our dinner in the study.” I take his hand and pull him up. He smiles and follows me out of the room.
“Definitely tell us that in the note next time, so we’re only mildly worried. Not summoning the shadow Lycans worried,” I look back at him with a glare.
“Oh no, not the shadow Lycans,” he laughs and takes a jab at my ribs. I barely dodge him. “I already apologized. Stop making me feel bad,”
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
