“I don’t know all the details. There was a coup attempt, or what seemed to be one. Forces loyal to someone, I don’t know who yet, they moved on the palace while you were gone.” Thessa straightened, still breathing hard but forcing the words out. “Father is holding them off, but he needs reinforcements. He needs you. He needs his heir.”
Caelan was already moving. Already grabbing his jacket, his phone, his keys. Every movement precise and practiced. A king preparing for war.
“Riley stays here,” he said.
The words were directed at Thessa, but they knocked the air out of me.
“What?” I stepped forward. “No. I’m coming with you.”
Caelan turned. His face was a mask, every inch the Alpha Prince. But his eyes... his eyes were torn. Anguished.
“You can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know what we’re walking into.” He moved toward me, took my face in his hands. His conflict bled through the bond, the desperate need to protect me warring with the desperate need to keep me close. “There could be an army waiting. There could be assassins. There could be anything. I can’t protect you and fight at the same time.”
“Maybe you’ll protect me better if I’m WITH you.” My voice was fierce, but my eyes were stinging. “You can’t just leave me here. Not after everything.”
“I have to.” He rested his forehead against mine. “Riley, please. If I brought you into danger and you were hurt because of me... I would never forgive myself. Never.”
“And if you get hurt? While I’m stuck here, useless, waiting?”
“Then Thessa will find you. She’ll take care of you. Make sure you’re safe.”
“I don’t want to be safe. I want to be with you.”
“I know.” His voice cracked. “I know, and I’m sorry. But I need you to stay. I need to know you’re protected while I deal with this. I can’t fight if I’m worried about you. I can’t focus. I can’t do what needs to be done.”
I wanted to argue. Wanted to scream, to fight, to demand he take me with him. But his emotions washed through me, the love,the fear, the absolute certainty that my safety would split his attention in battle.
He wasn’t leaving me because he wanted to. He was leaving me because he had to.
And as much as it hurt, I understood. If I was there, he’d lose focus, lose control. And in a real battle, that kind of distraction could get him killed.
Stupid overprotective werewolf logic. I hated that it made sense.
“Promise me,” I said. “Promise me you’ll come back.”
“I promise.” He kissed me hard, desperate, memorizing the taste of me. “I promise I’ll come back to you. Nothing in any realm could keep me away.”
“You’d better. Or I’ll come find you myself and kill you for making me worry.”
He laughed. Short, surprised, breaking through the tension. “I believe you.”
“Go.” I pushed him toward the door even though every instinct was screaming at me to hold on, to grab him and never let go. “Go save your father. Go be the ruler you were born to be. And then come home to me.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” My voice broke. “Now go.”
He went, and Thessa squeezed my shoulder before following. “I’ll keep you updated. I promise. Every hour, if I can.”
“Thank you.”
“He’ll be fine. He’s the best fighter in Duskmere. Maybe in all of Lytopia.” She tried to smile. “And he has the most to fight for now.”
And then they were gone.
