After my punishment had been handed out, I made good on my promise to repent. As soon as we arrived back in the human realm, I went with Darcy to his club to meet with some of the creatures. My trial had been transmitted out to all the realms, and word had gotten out to the creatures who resided in the human realm that I was no longer out to kill them. But Darcy had warned me that not everyone was going to be so forgiving straight away. So that’s why I was meeting with select groups. They needed a bit of convincing.
When we entered the club, two familiar faces were awaiting us. Shalia and Daniel, the werewolves whom I had met in New Zealand, were seated in front of the bar on the nightclub floor. A few of Darcy’s employees had set up chairs for the meeting. We decided on having the meeting here because the office was too cramped for more than two people. Besides, if more creatures decided to meet with us, they could. This wasn’t a closed meeting. Daniel and Shalia stood when we arrived and shook our hands.
“Thank you for coming,” Darcy said.
“Of course. We were hesitant at first, but we too wanted to explain our side of the story,” said Daniel.
I nodded. “That’s okay.”
We sat down in a small circle, and the werewolves explained to us their story.
“The reason we were in New Zealand was because we were on the run from the shifter realm,” Daniel explained.
“Oh, why is that?” inquired Darcy.
“My father didn’t approve when I imprinted with Daniel,” explained Shalia. “You see, I was the princess of werewolves, the heir to the throne, and I was promised to someone else. There was an Alpha that my father knew in town. This Alpha had fought two other males for his position in the pack. He was of a noble bloodline, so my father promised me to him without my knowledge.”
I could see the anger burn in Shalia’s eyes. I pitied her. Her story hit close to home.
“But when I found out, I ran away. I stayed away long enough so my father thought I was dead. I came across the veil one day and leaped through. That’s when I found myself in this world. It wasn’t long after that I met Daniel.” She smiled at her mate. I glanced over at Darcy, and he gave me a wink. I blushed.
A question burned in my mind, though—one that had been bothering me for some time.
“Why is it you revealed yourselves to the humans? You know that is forbidden.”
“We know. But I assure you, it was a complete accident on my part,” confessed Daniel. “You see, werewolves can shift on a full moon or when their emotions are heightened. And on that particular day, I was angry. Shalia and I had just had a fight, and I left to go search for food. I thought to make my way to town in my true form, my werewolf self, was going to be faster.” He bowed his head. “A human must have seen me. We’re sorry. We should have researched the place first. We didn’t know wolves weren’t endemic to New Zealand.”
“It’s an honest mistake,” Darcy said. “But the queen is not happy with it. If you can’t be more careful from now on, you will have to be punished. Our world is already in danger.”
“We understand,” said Shalia. “We’re sorry.”
Darcy nodded. “You’re free to go, but please, if you want to stay here, please go to a place where there are wolves so this doesn’t happen again.”
“Yes. We will. Thank you.”
When the werewolves left, I leaned into Darcy, and he leaned down to kiss me when a disturbance could be heard by the front door. A growl and fighting sounds followed by footsteps ensued.
“This can’t be good,” he said, standing. I stood too and took out my athame. We didn’t know who to expect was climbing the stairs. We never expected the person who walked into the club. Some angry creature I had threatened to kill.
My eyes widened, and I gripped my athame tight in fear.
I gasped. “Father. What are you doing here?”
My father stood before us in all his kingly attire, longsword and all.
I shook. I couldn’t let him scare me.
“Hello, Emmaline. I’ve found you at last.”
The End
To be continued in Obliterate, Book 3
of the Hidden Magic series.
Coming Soon