The Broken Wolf
Chapter 88

I wake up to the sound of people talking loudly in another room.

“Prince Seth, you were to have her back downstairs at 8:00 for me to check her,” I hear a man say.

“The plan changed,” I hear my mate say in a clipped tone. “She shifted last night. Successfuly,” he spits out, his voice laced with venom. “Dr. Sofia checked her after her shift and all is well. She’s just tired.”

“Sir, we had agreed that her shift wasn’t safe,” I hear the doctor again. “We don’t know what happened to her body.”

“Her wolf knew. She’s perfectly fine, just tired. Your incessant noise is going to wake her. You should go back and I’ll take her to Dr. Sofia whenever she wakes up.”

Seth is so short with the man and it makes me a little uncomfortable. He’s always so kind to me and it’s hard to believe that the person speaking to my doctor is the same man who brushed my hair for me last night. The man who stayed with me while I shifted, and gently carried me back.

I hear the front door close loudly and a few moments later, Seth tries to quietly slip into the bedroom.

“You didn’t have to be so rude,” I say to him and he jumps a little, quickly turning to me.

He walks over and takes my temperature, placing a k**s on the top of my head. “He’s an imbecile. He is the one who convinced me that shifting would hurt you- possibly kill you.”

“He was just doing his job,” I say, unsure why he is so angry with him.

Seth just shakes his head. “Sofia spent days trying to replace any information anywhere about magical werewolf hybrids, and why you keep passing out when you use your magic. When he didn’t know, he just decided it wasn’t safe, and that is simply not good enough. Not when it concerns your health and safety. I’ll be replacing him as soon as I can replace someone that can understand that you are different, or at least is willing to try.”

“What about Sofia?” I ask, understanding his frustration with the man now. It seems he didn’t even bother telling him I had shifted, which says a lot about how he feels about him.

He shakes his head. “I already offered her the job and she declined,” he tells me, looking a little sad about it. “As much as she loves you, she wants to go back to Lunar Falls. I have a hunch that if we do end up making the rogues their own pack that she’ll likely ask to move there.

I smile at that, thinking that he’s absolutely right. “I had a memory of her, from when I was a kid. I had the flu and she was checking on me and Lily was there. I was in my bedroom in the cabin out in the rogue land. They must have reached out and Dad must have granted permission for her to go check on a kid or something. It doesn’t make sense she was there, now that I think of it.”

“It sounds like something your dad would have allowed, for sure. You’re so very like him,” Seth says with a smile. “How are you feeling?”

“OK, I think,” I tell him. “I’m still really sore, and I feel really weak, but not as bad as last night.”

“Good. Sofia campy by earlier and brought some vitamins for you to take after breakfast and Lily sent some kind of herbs for a tea,” he says making a face. “I had someone come and brew it. It smells absolutely terrible. You can lie to her and tell her you drank it. I won’t tell her.”

I giggle at his face. “You didn’t brew it?”

He rolls his eyes at my comment. “You know damn well that I didn’t. I also didn’t make the delicious smelling breakfast that’s in there, but I’m sure you’ll eat it. If I remember correctly, it’s your favorite.”

“Eggs benedict?!” I ask, hopeful, and immediately attempt to get up.

“Yes,” he says, moving to help me. “You good?” he asks as I stand.

I nod at him and walk away towards the restroom. I don’t want to tell him just how much it hurts now that I’m up and moving, and I try hard not to limp, but I can feel through the bond that he realizes I’m not as good as I thought I was before I stood up. My muscles and joints are absolutely on fire, and my muscles feel so terribly exhausted.

When I emerge from the restroom, I replace Seth sitting, waiting patiently for me. He holds out a robe and helps me into it. He gently places his hand on my back and lets me walk to the dining room, never rushing me. He slides the chair out for me and helps me sit down. I look up and there’s a woman in here, a look of shock on her face as she sees us. She sees me looking at her and quickly bows, looking at Seth like he’s not who she was expecting. She quickly exits the room and I look at Seth who is now sitting next to me in the large dining room.

“Who is that?” I ask him. He looks at me, slightly confused. “The girl that was just in here? She was standing over there.”

He shrugs and sniffs the air. “Smells like the maid. I didn’t see her.”

“How could you not see her? She was 10 feet away!” I say to him, shocked. “She bowed to us.”

“Good. She’s supposed to,” he says, completely unconcerned with her being here.

“Seth!” I say but before I can say more, he cuts me off.

“We employ many wolves here, Molly,” he tells me. “I pass people in the hall all day. I can’t stop and talk to all of them.”

Thankfully, the girl returns, saving Seth and I from an argument. She’s carrying a large tray in her hand and sets it on a stand. I turn to look at her and she bows again.

“Princess Molly,” she tells me, bringing over a mug of tea. “This is the tea that was sent for you.”

It looks fine, but I catch the smell of it and almost gag. “That’s terrible!” I exclaim and notice the girl stifles a laugh. I look to Seth. “Did she say what it’s for?”

“She said that many wolves have taken it and recovered from their first shift in a day,” he says, a terrible look on his face. “They probably tossed it out and lied so she wouldn’t give them more.”

I dip my finger in to check the temperature.

“I can warm it up if you’d like, Princess,” the girl quickly offers.

“No! I think it’s best if I toss it back in one go while it’s not hot,” I say and bring it to my lips, trying not to gag from the smell.

“I can get you something to wash it down,” the girl offers and I nod at her graciously. “What would you like? I have coffee for you as Queen Audrey told us you liked it. I can get whatever you’d like, though.”

“Maybe some apple juice,” I tell her, sniffing it again. “And some orange. I don’t even know what will help with this.”

She smiles at me and nods as she exits the room and returns quickly with a glass of each. She places them on the table and bows… again.

“I can do this. I can do hard things,” I say, lifting the tea again.

Seth shakes his head. “You can just dump it and tell her you drank it.”

“I’d feel really bad,” I tell him. “I’m sure she didn’t bring this with her. She was probably out in the woods foraging for whatever is in it. It was a lot of thought and effort.”

“Then drink it so we don’t have to keep smelling it,” he says with a smile.

I lift the cup to my lips and quickly tip it back, chugging the entire contents as quickly as I can. Thankfully, and surprisingly, it doesn’t really taste like anything.

Seth hands me a glass of juice but I shake my head. “It actually wasn’t bad. Surprisingly.”

The young girl sets plates on the table in front of us and places two mugs and a carafe of coffee for us. “I’m so sorry, Your Highness. I forgot the cream and sugar. Please forgive me, I’ll be back shortly.” The poor girl sounds panicked and I can hear her heart beating faster.

“There’s no need,” I tell her with a smile that I hope is comforting and she looks unsure. “We don’t need any. It’s just fine. Thank you for bringing this for us,” I tell her and she bows deeply.

“Please let me know if you need anything else,” she says and exits the room.

Just before the door closes I speak up. “Oh, hold on! What’s your name?”

“Anna, your majesty,” she says, bowing again.

“It was nice to meet you, Anna,” I tell her as she leaves.

I dig into breakfast and while it’s not as good as Oliver’s, it’s still really good.

“So, want to tell me why that poor girl is terrified of you?” I ask Seth between bites.

I can see his hand quit moving for a moment as he looks up at me for a split second, and then back to his food, unwilling to look at me again. “It’s not me. There may have been a girl… before I met you that was… less than kind.”

“Why would you allow that to happen?” I ask him, feeling a bit mad about that, unsure if I’m mad he’s mentioning another girl or because he let her treat this girl badly.

“I’m an a*s, Molly,” he says with a sigh. “We’ve discussed this.”

“I don’t like how many times she bowed to us,” I tell him, moving food around my plate, feeling uncomfortable.

“I know, Love,” he tells me and I can feel his hand land on my knee under the table, gently squeezing it. “I don’t know what to tell you other than you just have to get used to it. You’re the princess.”

“I don’t want to be the princess, though,” I whisper. “I just want to be your mate.”

“You’re my mate first, and a princess second,” he says and pulls my chair close to him, gently placing his arms around me and kissing my head. “Hopefully, soon you’ll be a princess third.”

“Third?” I question him, confused. “What would be more important?”

“Well, hopefully soon you can add mother in,” he says and it makes me smile.

I look up at him and meet his eyes. “Would being a mother really come before being the princess? Or the queen?”

“Absolutely, Love. I think it’s what we both want,” he says, looking me into the eyes. “I have no doubt that you’d set everything else aside to be a mother, and be the best one.”