How to Survive a Werewolf Romance

Chapter 29: Nothing Here is Simple

I frowned. "I'm perfectly safe right now, Herbert."

"It is His Majesty's orders, and I cannot defy them."

Jane's face had fallen from surprise to disappointment, and I couldn't blame her. He wasn't telling her that he was already in love like my sister's mate, but this was still far worse than Arthur's attitude.

"Then I'll stay here where I'm safe, and I'll try not to listen." It would probably be impossible, though, but I could pretend. Herbert nodded tersely, accepting my terms.

Kayla was watching with rapt attention, so I shot her a look. She pouted, not impressed, and left with a sulky step. I wished I could go with her, but making Jane wait until the end of Herbert's shift was too cruel. I put my hands over my ears and prayed that they would muffle the sound of their conversation.

They didn't. Curse my acute werewolf senses. I would have liked to hum, but that probably was so out of the realm of expected behaviour for princesses that Reynold hadn't even thought to warn me against it.

"Truthfully, I would have preferred to find you later. Jane," he said, adding her name at the end as if the sound was foreign to him. "You must understand, my life is dedicated to serving my king and country."

"Does that mean you're rejecting me?" Jane asked, sounding like she was about to burst into tears if he said yes. It was unnervingly unlike her usual levelheaded calm.

I gritted my teeth and steeled myself not to react as I waited along with Jane for his response, and it seemed to take forever. "No, that's not what I mean. But I do need time to figure this out."

"What's to figure out? You must have known that your mate—that I—was out there somewhere," she said, her voice becoming less defeated and more sharp with each word, another side of her I hadn't seen before, although I suspected that the half-vampire reporters had.

"I did, but.."

Jane took a step back. "Then fine. Have your time to figure this out. I'll be waiting, if you don't take too long." She spun on her heel, and rushed away. I shot Herbert a stern look. "Don't follow."

"My orders are—"

"I'll ask Prince Arthur to find you a temporary replacement." I rushed after Jane, mind linking Arthur as I went. <Can you please call a replacement for Herbert? Some personal stuff came up.>

<Sure.> He was silent for a moment. <But I'm curious why, am I allowed to know?>

Jane disappeared into a restroom. I smiled in spite of the awful situation. From his tone, Arthur clearly desperately wanted to know, but he wasn't going to push me. <Jane is his mate.>

<Oh, good for him. She seems nice.>

<Well, he wasn't exactly thrilled, and now she's ran off to the bathroom.>

Arthur sighed into my mind, clearly as boggled by the constant overcomplications as I was. 

I acknowledged a group of guests as I went around them. <So, I thought it might not be a good idea to have his scent following me around all night. And please don't mention this just yet.>

<Of course. And Herbert has the next few days as paid leave, and his replacement will be there when you get out with your friend.>

<Thank you, Arthur. I love you.>

<I love you too, Anne.>

Butterflies caused by Arthur's absolute wonderfulness and anxiety for my friend were a weird mixture of emotions as I pushed open the door to an extremely nice washroom. It opened into a sort of sitting powder room in creams and soothing colours, lined with mirrors and couches. The door at the back led to the business part of the facilities, but I didn't have to go that far to find Jane.