Ella’s POV
“Anna.” Mad granny breathed as I rushed into her room widespread arms.
I closed my eyes as I inhaled her familiar scent that always seemed to comfort me. I was glad that it hadn’t changed. Her presence still brought relief to my aching heart and it wasn’t long before I forgot about the pain and stress of the last twenty four hours.
She pulled back and looked into my eyes, chuckling. “I forgot. It should be Ella.”
I smiled. “You can always call me Anna, granny. I would always be your Anna.”
Her eyes clouded with unshed tears. “Thank you, Ella. I appreciate the gesture. You will always be my girl but you need your identity. I won’t delude myself that you are Anna.”
My friends moved closer to me and took turns hugging me.
“I’m so glad you are back.”
“I thought my heart was going to stop during the trial when I thought you were going to be executed.”
“I couldn’t have watched. I would have fainted or puked my guts out.”
“You want to be there when she would be executed. I would have left immediately the judgement gets passed. I wouldn’t have stayed to watch.”
“It’s Anna’s final moment. We have to respect her in death and not flee like cowards. I’m sure she would have wanted someone to remember her final moments and not forget her.”
“She is Ella now and not Anna.”
“Oh! Right. She is Ella now. There are so many changes to adapt to. We used to think she is mad granny’s granddaughter and now we have to acknowledge her as the long lost daughter of Elder Zeke.”
“She is also the mate of the alpha of the blood moon pack and the future Luna.”
“What a lucky brat. She just keeps elevating her status.”
I laughed. “You know I’m right here, girls?”
They chuckled. “We know. Don’t mind us. When will you be leaving? Are you staying with us for a while?”
“I don’t know yet. I don’t think Kevin has any reason to want to stay here but dad wouldn’t want me to leave so soon.”
Camilla pushed forward and pulled me away, bringing her closer to her. “We should let her rest. She had been in the dungeon all day. I’m sure she needs to have a shower and sleep.”
“Oh! Ella.” They gasped. “What were we thinking? Camilla is right. We should go. We would talk to you later.”
I watched as they hugged me again and departed. Camilla turned to me, her eyes expectant as if she wanted to say something and I wondered what it was.
She had barely opened her mouth when a guard walked up to us and bowed before me. “Your chamber is ready, my lady.”
“You should go. I will talk to you later.” Camilla said and walked away.
I wondered what it was that she wanted to say and it wasn’t until I got to the entrance of the palace that Oscar Nelson had told us to have as our accommodation to make up for the arrest that I realized what it was that Camilla had wanted to say to me.
I gasped as I realized it. The guard turned to me with alarm boldly written all over his face.
“Are you okay, my lady? Are you afraid of entering the palace?” He smiled kindly at me. “No one is going to hurt you.”
I smiled and shook my head. “That isn’t the case. Don’t worry about me.”
I sighed as I thought of Camilla. She had wanted to ask me where I hoped to stay for the meantime and had wanted to ask me to stay at her place.
If she had asked before the guard came or I had realized on time what her desire was, I wouldn’t have gone with the guard. Of course, I would have loved to stay with her and catch up on old times.
I sighed as I walked into the bedroom given to me, knowing it was late to stay with Camilla now. I couldn’t go back and tell her I wanted to stay with her when I was already the alpha’s guest. She wouldn’t even allow me to stay even if I was rude enough to decline the alpha’s courtesy. That would be rude and the mad granny I knew was big on tradition.
As long as I avoided Luke and his mother while staying here, I was sure I wouldn’t have an uncomfortable stay and I had a plan already on how to avoid them. I wasn’t going to walk alone while being in the palace and was going to avoid where they liked to be.
I exhaled as I plopped on the bed, enjoying how soft it was. It was a welcome change after spending hours in a cold cell with my back to the rough, dry ground.
I felt itchy and dirty, thinking of the time I had spent in the cell and decided to have a shower. I felt someone enter the bedroom when I was in the bathroom but didn’t feel the need to panic because I assumed that it was Kevin.
I gasped as I stepped out of the bathroom and saw Luke standing in my bedroom. He smirked as he saw me and I felt embarrassed that I was only in a towel. I should have worn a bathrobe inside but didn’t think I needed it because what I wanted was a quick shower and I didn’t expect an unwanted guest to enter my bedroom without my permission.
“You look even more beautiful when you are naked.” He grinned, moving closer to me.
I stepped back, suddenly afraid of him. I couldn’t put it past him to want to force himself on me. “Stay away from me. What are you doing here?”
“It’s my father’s palace.”
I snorted, hating his arrogance. “Well, I’m a guest in your father’s palace and you have no right to be in my bedroom.”
“Can’t you see the risk I took to be here?”
“You should take that risk and leave.” I said, pointing at the door.
He ignored my outstretched hand and moved closer to me instead. “When will you see that I want you?”
“When will you see that I don’t want you? I have a mate.” I said, hating that I was having this conversation with him. It felt like I was trying to negotiate with the devil.
“You used to hate him.”
“Now I love him.”
He hissed. “You didn’t have a choice.”
“You don’t get to tell me about my heart and my choice.”
He moved closer to me in one stride and pulled me closer into his arms. I gasped at how close we were and looked down on instinct, hoping that my towel wouldn’t fall.
I couldn’t even fight him off properly in fear of having the towel loosen. I was trapped and mad with rage, listening to my heart beat with erratic abandon. His eyes glinted as he looked at me and I knew he could hear my heart beat and was enjoying what he was doing to me.
He leaned closer, nudging his head into my shoulder and inhaled. “I love your scent when you are freshly bathed. I think this is my favorite scent in the world and would be my best memory.”
“It’s about to be your worst memory.”
I stiffened as I heard the growl in my room from the direction of the door and felt Luke’s hand go rigid around me. He tried to not show his fear but I knew he was.
I didn’t have to turn or crane my neck in Luke’s hand to know who had just joined us in the room. I wondered when he had entered that none of us had heard him.
“Let go of her.” He growled.
I winced as I heard his deep growl, knowing shit was about to go down.