*Isla*
My stomach is tangled in knots as I stare across the room at the tray of table Poppy has brought me. She keeps bringing me things to eat that I’m too nervous to touch.
Poppy putters around the room, rehanging clothes, moving things from one place to another that don’t need to be moved. She’s cleaning the same surfaces over and over, too, as if she has nothing better to do but also doesn’t want to leave me alone.
Her sources, the other staff in the castle, have let her know that Maddox left Duster pack a few hours ago. Where he was going, they weren’t certain at first, which made me very nervous.
Then, Beta Seth came in to check on me, and I could tell he was nervous. He’d tried to play it down like everything was fine and he was just there to make sure I was doing well, but eventually, I got him to tell me the truth.
Well… part of it anyway.
Maddox had gone to Hill Country pack, the same place where he’d picked up Sydney and ended up killing the Alpha. I asked Seth what Maddox was doing there, praying it was just to check on the situation and not because the pack was stirring up trouble again, but he wouldn’t really answer me. He just shook his head and said not to worry about it.
I was worried about it, though.
“He hasn’t sent for reinforcements that I know of,” Poppy says off-handed as she puts one of my dresses back on the bar. “And I normally hear about such things.”
I want to say that’s good to know, but I would be more surprised if he had sent for them because the castle is so far away from that pack. What would be the point?
“He did ask for a paddy wagon, though,” Poppy tells me.
“A paddy wagon?” I repeat, pondering why he would do such a thing.
“Yeah, you know, for prisoners.” She closes the armoire.
I nod. “I know what one is, I just wonder why he needs that.” Why would he need an entire paddy wagon for just Zabrina? None of this is making any sense to me. I try to tie it to what I’d seen in my dream, but I just can’t make the leap.
So I continue to sit there, my knees pulled to my chest, my arms wrapped around them, wondering if Maddox is okay.
I think I would feel it if he wasn’t. Whether or not I am his second-chance mate, I think I would know if he was in pain or if he was… no longer around. I can’t explain why, but I feel it in my heart. When I am a bit older, I should be able to find my mate by scent, but because I’m not old enough yet, Maddox wouldn’t be able to tell if it is me–assuming he has a second chance mate.
I know that he’s said he’ll never take another Luna, but I have to wonder if he might change his mind if he felt the pull….
My thoughts are interrupted by Maddox’s voice in my head. I almost leap up off of the bed with excitement and relief, as he sounds strong. He sounds uninjured.
“Hi, Isla.”
“Maddox!” I’m not sure one can actually scream through the mind-link since it’s just in our heads, but I feel like I am shouting his name. “How are you?”
Poppy has said something I missed and is looking at me funny. “Is the king in your head?” she asks.
I nod, and she smiles at me, but then I give all of my attention to Maddox who is responding to my question.
“I’m fine,” he assures me. “We are on our way back to the castle.”
“Thank the Moon Goddess,” I mumble. “You’re not harmed?”
“No. no, I’m fine,” he tells me. “I’ll be home soon, and then I’ll tell you all about it, but you don’t need to worry about me. We don’t even have any casualties.”
I inhale deeply and then let it go. “Thank the Moon Goddess,” I say aloud and in my head this time. “When will you be back?”
“I’ll be there in about twenty minutes, but we have prisoners, and this time, I need to make sure they don’t get out of the dungeon.”
I know what he’s speaking of. It makes no sense that so many people that he had in custody have managed to get away recently.
Curiosity overcomes me, and I find myself asking, “Did you get… her?” I know he will understand who I am speaking of.
“Yes, we have Zabrina in custody,” he says, a confident tone in his voice that sends a ripple of excitement through me I can’t deny.
“Good.” I don’t know what else to say as the tone of his deep, gravelly voice has sent me to places I shouldn’t go alone, without him. And I know he’ll be busy with actual work when he gets here. So it will be a while before he is available to satisfy my craving… working on the job we are meant to do together….
“I’ll see you soon,” he says. “Once I get these goons situated.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing you.” I keep my tone cordial, not letting him know he’s ignited a fire in my core.
I hear a chuckle in his voice as he responds, “Oh, I’m looking forward to seeing you, too. All of you.” And I know that he has picked up on my desire, even though I was trying to hide it.
I can’t hide much of anything from Maddox.
He tells me goodbye and fades from my mind, and I remember the situation with my brother. I feel that I should keep all of that information from Maddox. He will never understand why I want to go to Maatua to see if I can figure out what happened there, but it’s so difficult for me to keep anything from him.
And I know I can’t just leave without speaking to him about it again. Not unless I have a far better plan than I did last time….
I don’t want to do that, just take off and not tell him where I’m going, but I know he will tell me I shouldn’t do it, that there’s nothing in the islands for me but trouble.
He might be right, but if there are any answers there at all, I need to find them. My parents will tell me nothing. I want to know why they were forced to leave and what happened to our people.
“So…?” Poppy stands at the foot of the bed, her arms spread wide, her palms up, as her eyes bore through me. “I take it by the look on your face that you’re done speaking to the king?”
“Yes, I’m finished,” I tell her, feeling bad that I haven’t told her anything yet when she’s always so fast to tell me what she hears from the other servants in the castle.
“What did he say?” she prompts.
“Not too much. Just that he’s on his way back. He did get Zabrina, and he has lots of other prisoners, but he didn’t tell me who they were, and I didn’t ask,” I admit.
“Why not?” Her forehead wrinkles up as she contemplates what I’ve said to her.
I shrug. “I don’t know. He seemed busy and distracted. I’ll ask him when he gets here.”
“Yeah, well, I doubt it will be a priority for you to tell me then when you’ve got that amorous look on your face.” She sighs. “I’ll have to go find out what’s going on from the other servants. If the king is on his way back to the castle, someone has to know something.”
She doesn’t seem mad, just curious. But then, Poppy is always curious. “All right,” I tell her.
My maid stops pretending to tidy my room and heads out the door, leaving my untouched food.
I ponder going over and eating it now that I know that Maddox is okay. I am a little hungry. But lately, my stomach has felt a little unsettled. I am sure it’s because of nerves. I am always nervous about something, and it almost always has to do with Maddox.
Thinking of him sends another electric trill down my spine, and I consider dropping my hand down inside of the white slacks I’m wearing to make a bit of the sting subside. I’ve never been one to do that, touch myself, but when I think of Maddox, I almost can’t help it. I wish his hands were on me, but since they can’t be at the moment, perhaps mine will have to do.
A knock on my door has that idea fading away, and a frustrated sigh leaves me.
At first, I think it might be Beta Seth, coming to tell me that Alpha King Maddox is on his way back to the castle. But then I realize that the Beta is probably too busy preparing for the king’s arrival with all of those prisoners, particularly Zabrina, to worry about letting me know.
“Yes?” I call sliding down off of the bed and walking over to the door.
It opens before I reach it, and Sydney pops her head in again. “Hey,” she says, a meek look on her face.
I hold back my irritation. She’s probably the last person I want to see at the moment, except for maybe Zabrina herself, but I see no reason to be rude. “Hi,” I say, beckoning with my hand that she can come in. “Is everything okay?”
She stands there for a second, the door ajar, both hands on her abdomen. “I’m not sure. I don’t feel so good, and I’m not sure what to do.”
“What’s wrong?” I ask her, but I barely get the words out before a huge gush of water breaks down from between her legs, spilling all over my carpet and dampening her shorts so that it looks like she’d fallen into a puddle.
“Oh, Goddess!” she shouts, sounding like she may be in a little pain. But when she continues, I realize she’s just embarrassed. “I just peed myself! I didn’t even know I had to go to the bathroom!”
I can tell that it isn’t urine. Not only does it smell different, but she would also know if she had to pee. “Sydney, dear,” I say, stepping around the puddle to put my hands on her shoulders. “You didn’t pee. Your water just broke.”
She looks into my eyes, and all she can say is, “Holy shit.”