The Rejected Werewolf Princess

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P.O.V

The moment I found the girl bound and alone in the woods, I knew it had been a trap to separate Ryker and I. She was terrified but relatively unharmed. As soon as she was free, she rushed over to me and in that moment, I wasn't the Queen, I was just the person who had saved her. She was younger than I had expected, she couldn't have been any more than sixteen and I couldn't imagine all that she had to go through.

"Are you alright?" I asked once she pulled back and she nodded.

"I apologize for rushing towards you like that, I-"

"You don't have to apologize," I waved her off. "Do you want to tell me how you got here or would you like to see your sister first? She is in the palace."

"I can explain," she cleared her throat and stood up straighter. "One of the elders came to me, he said that you wanted the palace off lockdown. He asked me to come with him and the next thing I knew, I was here."

"Thank you for explaining, that was-" my words died in my throat when I felt something tense in my chest. It almost felt like someone had wrapped their hand around my heart and was squeezing tightly. I could see the girl and the guards watching me with wary expressions so I forced a neutral look on my face. "Take her back in, make sure she is given clean clothes and take her sister to her. There is something I must do."

"Your majesty," one of the guards began hesitantly. "We were under strict orders to not leave you alone."

"And I am releasing you of those orders," I snapped.

He knew better than to directly disobey so he bowed and walked off. As soon as he was gone, I allowed myself to stop pretending. I placed my hands on my knees, trying and failing to catch my breath. The pressure on my chest was getting worse and I wasn't sure how, but I just knew where to go. I allowed instinct guide me until I was much deeper into the forest. I saw a house in the distance and what I saw there had me freezing.

There was Ryker, with shadows coming out of his hands, it was a terrifying but beautiful sight. His eyes were black, almost like they were the last time I spoke directly to the magic inside of him. Weirdly enough, it wasn't Ryker who shocked me, it was the people around him. I couldn't recognize either of them, they seemed to be rogues. The first one- a man- stood in front of him and there were two more - a woman and a child- behind him. As I got closer, I started to hear exactly what they were saying.

"You don't want your own daughter to see you like this, do you?" the man asked, a cruel smirk playing on his lips. I wasn't sure what game he was playing at, but the girl behind Ryker was not our daughter.

"Don't listen to him!" I yelled out and all eyes turned to me, including Ryker's. "Ryker, they are lying to you. Our daughter isn't here."

The rogue narrowed his eyes at me before turning back to Ryker. "You can see the witch, can't you? This is a test, she wants you to fail. Don't be swayed by her words."

My brows furrowed in confusion when Ryker cocked his head to the side, almost as if he were actually listening to the rogue. Did he not hear that his voice was different? Couldn't he see who or what he was? "I am not a witch, you know who I am. Look around, they are rogues."

I tried to take a step forward but it was almost like there was something blocking me from doing so. It was like an invisible field of air. I pushed against it but all to no avail. When I glanced back at the woman standing behind Ryker, she had an amused expression or her face. I immediately knew that she had something to do with it. They weren't rogues like I had earlier thought, they were probably witches but it didn't make sense that they were trying to drag this out because witches would have just killed him.

I tried to mind link Ryker but there was a thick mental wall between us. It was much stronger than his usual wall and it felt and smelled suspiciously of darkness and death. I wasn't sure how I knew, but this felt like Ryker's test, the one that would determine if he was going to be lost forever or not.

"Ryker, please, listen to me. It's me, you know that it is. I would never lie to you. These people aren't who you think they are."

"Ryker," the woman spoke and even I fell silent. There was something melodious and charming about her voice, something that seemed to almost sing out to me. “She's a witch, she's trying to make you think that she is your mate, but I am. Look, I have our daughter here with me, look at us and you'll see."

I was so confused, I was even more confused when Ryker turned to her and he seemed to smile softly almost as if he was seeing what she said which made no sense at all. I banged my fists against the barrier between Ryker and I. If I could just reach out to him, if I could just touch him, then perhaps I could have saved him. If he could have just touched me then he would have known that I was his mate- not them.

"The witch wants to separate us," the woman said once more. "Kill her, please. Protect us."

"No!" I screamed. "Kill them, they are trying to use you. They are lying to you. Our daughters are at home, they are in their rooms probably sleeping. You said it yourself that there was no way that he would have been able to get them out of the palace and you were right because he didn't. They aren't here. It is just me and you."

"She's lying daddy," the little girl chimed in. "I'm scared."

If Ryker was seeing and hearing what I thought he was then I knew that was going to be his undoing. There was little to nothing he wouldn't have done for our daughter so I wasn't completely surprised when he stretched out his hand towards me and the shadows started to slither closer.

I tried to defend myself, I threw balls of water at it, I tried to make an ice shield but as I came to learn, you couldn't really defend yourself against shadows because all his magic did was crawl over it until it was wrapped around my feet. The moment I came in contact with the magic, I felt cold and empty. I smelled death and decay in his powers as it crawled up my body. I couldn't move, couldn't twist my fingers, couldn't even use my powers if I wanted to.

"Kill her," the witches said in unison.

Their smiles grew wider and bloodier with each passing second and that was when I noticed the abnormal teeth that they had. It wasn't normal like werewolves or witches and it didn't have the fangs I had come to associate with vampires. They had rows upon rows of jagged teeth like it had been filed to look that way. My blood ran cold, it was utterly terrifying.

"Ryker," my voice came out softer than I intended.

His magic was coiling itself around me so tightly, like a snake. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. I knew that all I had was a few seconds before he killed me and I was determined not to waste it. if he was going to remember my last words, then I needed him to remember me well.

"Witch," Ryker snarled, his voice wasn't his. It was much deeper and guttural. It was the first word he had spoken since I got here.

"I know you think I'm a witch," I managed out. "I know this isn't your fault and when whatever magic they used on you wears off too, I want you to know that I forgive you. I want you to know that I don't blame you. You didn't know, you didn't have a choice." His hand faltered a little, his magic slowed, but he didn't stop so I continued.

"I want you to know that the years I spent with you were the best of my life. I would have never thought that I could have a family and yet, somehow, you found me and you loved me more than I could have ever imagined. I will never regret the day you found me in those cells Ryker Caine. It was the best day of my entire life."

As soon as the words had left my lips, his hand dropped and the magic uncoiled around me. I took in a deep breath, trying to get air into my lungs as I crashed to my knees. The reality of what almost happened hit me like a freight train and my shoulders shook with fear and relief.

"No!" the female screamed. "You were meant to kill her."

Ryker's eyes narrowed in her direction and she seemed to realize at that moment that it was her life on the line. Ryker erupted with a roar and I watched transfixed as the darkness seemed to flow out of him. One second, it was bright and the next, we were in pitch darkness. I heard screaming, high pitch and pained and I knew that he was killing them.

I dragged myself to my feet and took a step forward. The barrier was gone. I moved blindly, trusting my heart to lead me to the right person and the moment my fingers came in contact with bare skin, I knew it was him.

"Don't kill them," I whispered not knowing if he could hear me. "You are better than this- than them. We need them alive, we need to question them."

I was met with silence.

"Ryker, please, I need you to stop, now!"