Betrayed

☾Chapter Twenty-Two☽

"Of course I love you, Greer, and no, I'm not happy you left, but I want to give you and your child your best chance," Father answers.

"Xavier seems quiet today."

He sighs exasperatedly, clearly growing more and more frustrated with Greer's attitude. "Why don't you just talk to him yourself?"

Oh, Goddess no.

'If your going to do that, maybe-' I begin, but Greer cuts me off with her reply to father.

Stiffly, she says, "no, Father. Listen, I have to go for now and deal with some things, but I'll call you back eventually," She then hangs up, leaving our father no time to reply.

••

Karena places a cup of hot cocoa in front of me carefully before taking a sip of her own.

"Thank you," I whisper. "You know, I'm not your queen anymore, you don't have to be formal with me," I inform Karena.

She shrugs. "You're still a royal and I rather not risk my life by disrespecting the Alpha King's daughter," She jokes softly, but I can hear the fear in her voice.

Sighing, I accept that she'll always view me as her queen and never as her roommate.

"It really is an honor to have you as my roommate, especially while you're pregnant with the kingdoms heir," Karena sucks in a deep breath to continue her rant, "and to even consider that I'm not even worthy enough-"

I place my hand over hers. "Please, Karena, stop with the nonsense. I'm just here to escape from all the duties for the moment," I laugh.

She shrugs again. "Still! I mean, you stepping down from the thrown and your pregnancy is the number one thing buzzing around the supernatural realm. Do you ever wonder if other species might kidnap you and hold you for ransom to get something from your father?"

My eyes widen at her question, and, on instinct, my hand goes to my stomach. "Um, no, but I still have my powers and I feel like I can handle myself pretty well," I respond.

Karena nods her head in understanding. "I'm pretty sure Alpha Collin is open to the idea of protecting you. Speaking of protecting, you should meet the pack, along with my twin sister, Alpha Collin's beta," She squeals.

'She's a very enthusiastic person,' Greer mutters.

I send Karena a smile. "I'd love to meet the pack. Not tomorrow but maybe the day after?" My shoulders slump foreword. "Shall we talk business now?"

Karena takes a sip of her drink and clears her throat, suddenly taking on a professional attitude. "You're staying here for 5-6 weeks, right?"

I nod.

"Alright, well, if my calculations are correct, that will be six-hundred-twenty-three dollars for that time. You can pay now or any other time that's good for you," Karena smiles.

Hastily, I pull the money out of my cardigan pocket and count out the correct money. "Take it now," I say as I extend the money to Karena, "it will be one less duty off my aching shoulders."

Karena takes the money and puts it in an envelope before standing up and walking off to put it away.

I close my eyes and lean back, but my peace doesn't last long before my phone starts to ring.

The caller ID tells me that it's Titus, and before I can even think about my actions, I'm answering the phone.

"Titus," I breathe. "Are you almost here?"

Sighing, Titus replies, "Yeah, but we have an issue."

I sit up slowly. "Issue? What issue?"

A voice in the background barks out a command, and suddenly, my grandmother's melodic voice is floating through the phone. "Vladimira, Sweetheart. I'm not holding Titus captive, I just need to talk to the both of you," She explains gently.

About what?

"Grandmother, why couldn't you just speak to us in a dream instead of practically running Titus off the road and making me worry?" My hand caresses my belly gently. "Stress isn't good for my pup."

"I know," She sighs, "it was wrong of me, but I need you to meet us at a certain location so we can discuss an urgent topic that can't wait," She frets.

Worried that Karena will wonder where I'm going, I glance towards the direction in which she walked out. "Hey, Karena?" I yell.

She immediately appears back in the room with the help of her enhanced speed. The envelope that was in her hands is now gone, probably in a drawer somewhere.

"Yes?"

I look down at my phone—the call still in progress—and frown. "I have to go deal with something. I'll be back soon," I reassure.

Karena waves her hand towards the door as she begins to remove the cups from the table and put them in the sink. "Go ahead," The clatter of the cups being placed in the sink cuts her off. "I'll still be here," She jokes.

Flashing her a smile, I grab my care keys and leave the apartment. Once inside my car, I bring the phone back to my ear.

"Where do I meet you?"

My grandmother begins to slowly speak out an address, leaving me to juggle the call and type the location into the GPS on my phone.

Soon enough though, I'm on my way to the area she wants to meet at, thoughts of meeting Titus making butterflies float around my stomach.