The Fall Ball
Chapter 33

(Rose)

The wind is knocked out of me as I am shoved to the ground by Craig. I’m knocked to the ground with Craig’s weight on top of me. As soon as he said vampires, he protected me. Alex shifted and got into an attack stance, and before I knew it, palace guards were surrounding us.

I am flat on my back and I hear the guards start to shift. Then I hear laughter.

“You are all fools! You think that you can protect her? I am sure that she can protect herself without any of your help!” I hear a strange voice say.

I try to turn to see who is speaking. But Craig holds me in place.

“You cannot move right now,” he says to me.

“How come?” I ask him.

“Because there are 5 vampires here, and we only have 5 guards right now. They could easily take us out, because we take up so much more room now that they have shifted into their wolves.” Craig says to me.

“It’s okay, my dear Rose. I will not harm you. I am simply here to talk to you, and to give you some information to help you prepare for what is to come.” The strange voice says to me.

I believe that he is telling the truth. So I reach down deep and use that strange feeling I experienced earlier with Alex. It comes almost naturally this time. As soon as I feel like I have a grasp on the strange power within me, I speak out loud and clear.

“I need you all to shift back, and leave at once. The only people who need to stay are Craig and Alex.” I say out loud.

Almost instantly you can hear the bones shifting as the guards change back. They all look at me in shock. I am sure that I will have some explaining to do later on. Ash will not be happy with me, but I will deal with that later on.

When I am sure that all the other guards have left. I tap Craig on the arm.

“I need you to get off me,” I say to him.

I hear him growl at me.

“What if he is a danger to you? We don’t know anything about him, all we know is that him, and 4 of his buddies were waiting in our suite.” Craig says to me.

He turns his head to look at me. I smile at him.

“I feel deep down that he is no threat to me. So please get up, and don’t make me command you. If anything were to happen, both you and Alex will be here to watch over me. And I am sure the palace guards have let the King know by now, so if anything happens we will have back up.” I say.

He nods at me and stands up. He reaches his hand out to help me up. I smile and take his hand. As I take my first step, Alex stops me.

“You can’t believe this guy?” Alex says to me, while reaching out to stop me.

I look at him and growl. I can feel my energy shift and I’m positive my eyes changed colors from the way that Alex quickly stepped back away from me.

“If you don’t want to be here, then you may leave. I do not need your permission to do what I think is right. I am not sure why, but deep down I feel like this guy and his friends here are on our side. So you may either stay and watch what is going on or you may leave. The choice is yours.” I say to him, while walking around him and towards the vampires that are standing in the living room.

As I step closer their eyes all snap on me and before I can even say anything to them. They drop to their knees and bow to me. I look at Craig and Alex and they seem just as confused as I am.

“Umm…. Why are you bowing to me? We are not the same species and we don’t really get along,” I say to them.

They all rise up, but keep their eyes down cast in a submissive stance.

The oldest of the bunch steps closer to me.

“My Queen, I know that you have no idea who we are, but your wolf knows us well. We became very close during the last big war. We are sworn by your goddess to do everything to protect her and to train her for the things to come.” He says.

I recognize his voice; he is the one who spoke earlier.

“Please do not call me Queen. It is strange to me. And how do you know my name, when I know nothing of any of you? I don’t even know your names yet.” I say to him.

“I am sorry, Rose. Let me first introduce ourselves and then I will answer a few questions that you have. I am Raymond. I am the head of the group. Those four are Levi, Landon, Leonardo, and Lucas,” He says while pointing to each one of them, who nod in response.

“They are all brothers.” Raymond says to me.

I nod at him.

“Okay, now that I know who you all are. As you know, I am Rose. This is Craig, my guard from the Opal Moon Pack. This is Alex, my guard from the kingdom.” They all nod in acknowledgement.

“Would you like to sit down Rose? You look a little tired.” Raymond says to me.

I nod and walk over to the couch. Craig sits on one side of me while Alex stands behind the couch. The vampires sit on the other couches and chairs in the room.

“Rose, I have known who you were since you where a baby. The goddess reached out to me about 18 years ago. She told me that Lilly had picked her next human part, and that you were in severe danger. She told me I needed to protect you until Lilly was able to come forward and do so.” Raymond says to me.

No one says anything, we are all quietly waiting for him to continue.

“When the Royals started to go missing, everyone assumed it was the vampires that were taking them out, but this was not the case. It was the witches. They did it for reasons I do not understand. Well, about the time that the last two royals went missing, I felt a magnetic pull. I could not seem to stay away from it.” He says looking away from me.

“I followed the pull all the way to the end of the kingdom. There I saw Kevin lying motionlessly next to an old oak tree, and then I saw a witch holding a baby. Michelle was lifeless at her feet with her womb torn open. Next to her was a basket full of roses.” Raymond glances at me.

“Before the witch could do anything else. I killed her and grabbed you from her arms. I buried your parents in the field of flowers; it was Michelle’s favorite spot in the kingdom. Then I took you and one rose from the basket, and I walked as far as I could to make sure you were safe. When I knew people were close by, I masked my scent and placed you in an old tree with the blanket your mom had made for you and a single rose.” Raymond looks at me with a sad smile on his face.

“Rose, I have always watched over you. That is what Selene asked me to do.” Raymond says to me.

I stand up angry.

“No, this cannot be! I can’t take all this in right now. I need time!” I retreat to my room and shut the door.

I lean my back against the door and break down in tears.