“Lucie.”
She snapped her head up at the sound of a familiar voice. Her gaze met her grandmother Lita’s green eyes. She walked up to Lucie with confident, commanding steps and wrapped her arms around her.
“Don’t worry. We’re going to fix this. Okay? Shhh, we’re going to fix this,” Lita said calmly.
“Mom? How did you know?” Hunter asked.
“The light of another fairy princess began to flicker into existence. However, I didn’t know she’d received the same premonition until I saw her face. Reiya also saw this. Don’t worry, Lucie. It isn’t going to happen, okay? Alexa is going to be just fine. That’s the reason we get these premonitions.” Lita rubbed the back of Lucie’s head as she continued to speak to her in a soothing tone.
“What about the other thing?” Lucie finally spoke, her voice quiet. “The girl with the sword.”
Lita’s fingers tensed. “You saw that too?”
Lucie lifted her head and looked at her grandmother, nodding slowly. “Who is she?”
Lita sighed and smiled. “That is a future we’re not going to worry about right now. That is centuries and centuries from now. Who knows what can change before then, right?”
“What is this about Alexa?” Aedan asked, taking a protective stance near Lucie. He’d rarely ever seen her look so vulnerable, and he wanted to protect her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at his grandmother.
Freja stood next to Hunter, and behind them was Chasen and Jin, who walked up with Asher, Lita’s husband and mate. Asher and Lita were the previous Alpha and Luna of the Black Ice Pack and were now the King and Queen of the Fairies.
“Lucie, let me see you, kiddo.” A man’s voice boomed from the side.
“Uncle Grayson.” Lucie smiled, then her eyes widened in shock as he picked her up. Grayson was her grandmother’s guardian. He was a very large man who was also a werebear, like all the previous guardians.
Grayson’s face turned serious as he looked at Lita and Asher. He glanced up at Chasen and could see he knew it as well.
“She has the smell … and I can feel her.” Grayson eased her down.
“Hi … could someone please explain what’s going on? I seem to have missed the seminar,” Jasper said with a small grin. Derrick stood there, quietly absorbing the information that had to do with his mate.
“Me too,” Aedan said with a shrug.
“We had a premonition that Alexa was killed. We have room to adjust and remedy this. Just like how Elysia wasn’t destroyed. But the fairy magic in Lucie has awakened. Her royal scent is now letting other fairies know who she is. She is recognized as a potential heir now. This doesn’t mean anything, though. Nothing changes except our Lucie is a bit stronger now. However, in light of this, it is protocol for her to have a guardiannow.” Lita looked up at Hunter. It was his job to pick one out for his daughter.
“No, please don’t.” Lucie stared back at her grandmother with determination. “I am not the fairy princess. Alexa is. And giving me a guardian … it feels like you’re giving up on saving her. I don’t want one. I won’t accept one. I have Aedan, Justice, and Jasper around all the time. I don’t want a guardian to add to that too.”
“We aren’t giving up. It’s just that you’re important, Lucie, and protecting you is important.” Lita frowned. “I’m sorry. You must have a guardian.”
“Then let me do it.” Justice jogged up from the side. “I know I can’t shift into a bear, but I can still protect Lucie. I want to do it. I grew up with Lucie. We’re family. It makes sense. Right, Dad?” Justice looked at Chasen with hopeful eyes. He was always joking around about being their honorary guardian. This was something he wanted to do.
Chasen nodded his head. “The guardian power must accept you, Justice, and if it does, then you were meant to be her guardian. But I have to warn you. You’ll be accepting a very strong power at a much older age. We all had a long time to adjust to the strength bestowed on us as guardians. It will require some very intense, crash-course training.”
Justice nodded his head enthusiastically.
“Now wait a minute.” Derrick finally spoke up, and all heads snapped to look at this new person. “Could these new powers he’s getting make him dangerous to Lucie? I won’t allow it.” His firm conviction resonated with power. “If there is any chance new powers could cause him to lose control …”
“That’s what the training will be for. Don’t worry. I promise I won’t allow him to be by Lucie’s side unless he’s ready.” Chasen chuckled. “You can relax. Besides, a guardian by her side would be a good thing. More protection.”
“Okay, who the hell are you?” Aedan fixed his gaze on Derrick. Who the heck was this guy to say anything?
Jasper smiled. “They aren’t within hearing,” he said, tilting his head in approval for Derrick to continue.
Lucie smiled and walked up to Derrick, leaning into his side. “This is my mate.”
Derrick wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. She looked normal again and even sounded normal.But he was feeling very protective over her and needed her beside him.
“This here is Prince Derrick … but for now, please refer to him as Ryan. We have comrades nearby, and while they can’t hear us here, it’s best to avoid an accidental slip up. For … reasons, right now he’s keeping his identity undercover. But it just so happens that he and Lucie are also mates. Actually, we believe they’re soulmates,” Jasper said almost proudly as he looked over at Lucie and Derrick.
