Ella’s POV
I marched straight to my bedroom as soon as I left Liam’s house. Liam was right. I needed to have the address written down. Where the witch lived wasn’t a straightforward location and I might get lost, trying to find it and might even second guess myself on the way.
Liam had written the description down for me and also given me a map. I had more than enough to get by. Now, it was time to get supplies so I wouldn’t end up dead with my kids.
I considered not going with my kids but I didn’t trust anyone else with them if I wasn’t around. I was going to go with my kids and I needed to be extra careful and prepared on this journey.
I found a large bag that could fit all I needed and would still be light for me to carry. I rummaged through my drawers and picked shiny and expensive jewelry that I could use to entice the witch to return Kevin’s ten years. I moved to the pantry, careful to avoid being seen by any of the servants around. I was relieved when I got there and found no one there. I packed as much as I needed for the journey, to and fro, and moved out of the kitchen.
If I had luck on my side, I hoped to be back from the journey in the next two weeks.
I had another reason for deciding to take the boys with me. I hoped to convince the witch to restore their father’s life with their presence. I was certain she would feel bad about holding on to their father’s life and letting him die early if she saw them. I knew it was emotional manipulation but I wasn’t above using it to save the man I loved.
I was back in my room with the food I had looted and shoved it into the bag. I went to the boys’ room to pack some clothes for them, hoping that they were out with their nannies.
I got to their room and smiled as I met it empty. I was done packing and zipping the bag I had their clothes in when the door opened and the boys walked in.
They paused when they saw me and then their eyes narrowed when they saw the bag. They bounced towards me, their smiles kept in place from the excitement of the fun they had just had.
I felt bad about taking the boys away from the place that they were familiar with but as Kevin felt he had no choice, I also had no choice. We all had to make this sacrifice to save Kevin. They wouldn’t understand but I hoped that they didn’t hold it against me.
“Why are you packing our clothes into a bag, mummy?” Neo asked, moving forward to peer into the bag.
“We are going on an adventure.” I replied with my handy excuse. I knew they would ask me questions and had already thought of what to say.
“Adventure?” They repeated, looking at one another in the eyes.
“We are going to have fun.” I explained.
“Fun.” They cheered. “I love fun.” Neo grinned.
“When?” Nathan asked.
“Today.”
“Is dad coming?” Nick asked.
“No. Dad is busy.”
“Should we ask him to come with us?” Nick asked.
My heart almost knocked up in my chest at his words. I smiled as I shook my head. “No, we shouldn’t ask daddy to come with us. He is really busy and can’t make it. He has something to do with Uncle Liam.”
Kevin wouldn’t let me leave my room if he found out about what I was trying to do. I could only hope that Liam hadn’t ratted me out but since I had made him believe that I wasn’t leaving soon, he wouldn’t feel the need to rush to Kevin’s side to tell him about my plans.
“It would be nice if daddy and Uncle Liam could come with us.” Neo sighed.
“I’m sure they will if they are less busy.”
“When will we be back, mummy?”
“Soon.” I promised them, hoping that I was right. “Let me get to my room to get the travel bag so we can leave now.”
“Now?” Nathan screeched with his eyes wide open. “Aren’t we going to say goodbye to dad before we leave?”
“I already said goodbye to your daddy. He knows we have left and wishes us a safe journey back home.”
“Journey?” Nick asked.
“Oh! I meant fun adventure.” I corrected myself, bashing myself for getting carried away.
“I want to see daddy.” Nathan groaned.
“You will see dad when we get back.”
“I don’t feel good about this.”
I sighed. I could agree with him. I didn’t feel good about any of what had happened or what I was about to do.
Kevin’s POV
I had meetings with the men late this evening and so I couldn’t see Ella again after our argument this afternoon. I had left her room and headed to the garden, hoping that she would have been done fuming and would join me in the garden, our usual place but didn’t show up.
I had waited there for so long before I checked the time and realized that the day had really gone far behind and I had a meeting to be at later that evening. It wasn’t until then that I stood up from where I was camped in the garden and moved towards the main house.
I knocked on the door to the bedroom and sighed when I didn’t get a response. She must still be mad at me. My expression was sour as moved away. I noticed that I didn’t see the boys playing all around the house but that wasn’t a strange occurrence. They could have gone to bed, I assumed without going to their room to check up on them. There was no need to do that yet and I was already late as it was. I couldn’t afford to test the men’s patience unnecessarily. I could always check up on the boys later in the night when I come back and before I go to bed.
It wasn’t strange that the boys were asleep by this time. Sometimes, they had so much fun during the day that they retired early and sometimes, their tantrums were too much for their mother and nannies to cope with that they were forced to take a nap.
I couldn’t blame Ella or the nannies as I knew how troublesome it was that the boys were. Sometimes, I smiled at the thought of them, wondering who they take after but it never took me much time before I find the answer. They were as stubborn as their parents. I couldn’t tell who was more stubborn between me and Ella but I knew the boys took after the two of us.
I made my way outside and wasn’t out for two minutes before I met one of the men walking towards me and I felt bad being late to the meeting while dealing with my own family problems. I should have thought of the men. They were my family too. Some of them rarely had off days from securing the border and today that they were all at home, I was sure that they were eager to be done with reporting to me and having the meeting so they could be on their way home.
“We are all ready and waiting for you, your highness.” Tristan bowed in a greeting.
“I’m sorry. Let’s go.” I sighed as I walked in front of him.
The men were already gathered except liam. He walked in seconds after I did and looked troubled that I couldn’t help wondering what was wrong with him. I had never seen him in that mood before and I was concerned.
What was going on with him? I made a mental note to ask him what was wrong after the meeting. He was the only one of my men who didn’t seem ready to have this meeting and be done with it. He looked like he would love to be anywhere but here.
“Well done so far on what you’ve been doing for the pack.” I addressed the men and started the meeting, knowing I had no reason to delay it any longer. “Any reports?”
“The border has been quiet.”
I nodded, knowing it would be. I was expecting that. I hadn’t thought that anyone would wage war against us when I had sent the men to guard the border.
“What of the witches I was told would like entry into the pack?” I asked.
“We left them alone at the border with the remaining supplies we had and told them we would have be back with news from you if they could be allowed into the pack. They were grateful and promised to be on their best behavior till we come back.” Damien responded.
“It isn’t like they have space to commit troubles even if they want to.” Logan chuckled.
He was right. The witches didn’t have an opportunity to cause havoc while staying alone at the border if they wanted to. The men had given them the remaining supplies so there wasn’t anything else left for them to loot. There was no building at the border where the men stayed so there was nothing for them to destroy. We all stayed in tents and I was sure that the men would have packed the remaining tents on their way here so it would only be the tents that they would sleep on that would be enough for them.
It wasn’t as if there were any neighboring packs around us that they could pick fights with or conspire with against us till we were back.
“What should we do about the witches, your highness?” Andre asked me.
I smirked, knowing why he was eager to have this meeting over with and be gone from there. I was like him too and knew exactly how he felt. His mate must be feeling the same way as well, eagerly waiting for the arrival of her man.
“You should let them into the pack.” I said.
There was no reason for us to keep them away since Ella had already found out about them. She hadn’t forgiven me but I doubted that she would be going anywhere close to the witches, knowing the secret she risked letting get known by others. I knew that she wouldn’t want others to know that I had lost my years in exchange for her. Her pride wouldn’t let us allow others to find out about it so I felt I was secure.
“Okay, your highness.”
I glanced at Liam to know what his reaction would be since he believed that I didn’t want the witches to come into the pack until I had found an excuse to keep Ella away from them and he didn’t know that Ella had found out about my secret but I didn’t have to bother. He wasn’t even looking in my direction and when our eyes met while he was trying to turn his neck, he quickly averted his eyes.
I frowned as I looked away from him, not wanting anyone to sense that there was something odd between us. There was something going on with Liam and I was going to get to the root of it.