The Prince's Mate

Chapter 38

"Hey, dad." I whispered softly, staring at my feet.

"Brooklyn!" my dad shouted as he opened the front door of my home. His eyes grew wide for a second and he opened and closed his mouth several times before he simply gave up on speaking and pulled me in for a tight hug. I nearly cried while he held me, so relieved to be accepted so easily for once. Then he pushed me back and words poured out of him. "Why haven't you called me? Have you been okay up there with the royals? Well, I guess you're okay, you look okay. Shouldn't you have body guards with you? I thought the royals hardly went anywhere without protection and you're such an easy target. Oh my god, is that your car?"

"Slow down dad." I said, laughing a little. God I had missed him so much. Just seeing him made me feel better inside, "Yes, it's my car, do you like it?"

"I'm a little jealous that you drive that while I drive this." My dad said, jabbing his thumb at his little Honda civic. "But yes, I like it very much."

"Where's Cass?"

"At school."

"Right, of course." I said to myself. I had been gone for so long that thinking about normal things like school was almost difficult, it felt like I had never been a high school student or worked in a grocery store.

"You look like you forgot what a hair brush is." my dad teased. "Come in, come in." he said, dragging me into the house.

"Speaking of hairbrushes, do you mind if I sneak upstairs for a little while. I had to stay in a hotel last night and it was kind of unplanned." I explained, already kicking off my shoes and moving up the stairs.

"Yeah, sure sweety." My dad replied, "I'll go put on some tea."

I went up to my bathroom and dug around, looking for anything that would help enhance my appearance. I hadn't wanted to stay at a hotel last night, but when my vehicle started to swerve from my tiredness I felt like I didn't have much of a choice. My decision was for the best, but now, standing in front of my mirror, I saw that there were some definite draw backs. My hair was a mess, I had dark circles under my eyes and my skin was getting oily. Still, there wasn't much I could do after I brushed my hair and splashed cold water on my face.

I gained the courage to go back downstairs, knowing the conversation that would eventually come was going to be less than pleasant. But when I saw my dad sitting in the living room with tea already poured into my favorite cup the bad feelings went away and I smiled a little.

"So, tell me about your life now, must be a lot more exciting than what it used to be. I mean, Willow told me she saw you in a mall not far from here, but she said you have to travel with guards, is that true?"

I folded myself on the sofa and pulled my legs to my chest, "More or less, but I'm not so sure if it was about me being protected from someone or if they wanted to make sure I wasn't going to run away."

My dad stiffened at that, his smile disappearing instantly, "Why would they be worried about that? I mean, they wouldn't be worried about you running away if they treated you well."

I took a sip of my tea, allowing myself to think about what I was going to say. "When I thought about having a mate I thought I would be with someone open minded a liberal. Bennett, the prince, wasn't either of those, but I'm not sure if it's because he's actually closed minded or he wanted to please his father. So I didn't have a good relationship with him at the beginning. Then all the staff is very cold, they don't want to socialize with you, they just want to do their job and go home, so it's not like I made a lot of friends. On top of that, the king and queen were less than lovely. It just wasn't a good time for me."

"But things got better? I watched The Reveal on television, you looked very happy." My dad said.

"I was happier then." I agreed.

"And the king is dead now, which means your mate is the new ruler, so things must be turning around for you. No guards are with you so obviously they aren't as concerned with you running away."

"That's because Bennett let me go." I whispered.

"What?"

"Bennett told me once he was king I didn't have to stay with him unless I wanted to."

My dad tensed, his lips pressed into a tight line for a second. "And you don't want to stay with him. Was he bad to you?"

"Dad-"

"That bastard!" my dad shouted, slamming his tea cup down, "Brooklyn, why didn't you tell me. I would've-"

"What? What would you have done? You were alive when the queen tried to start a war and look how that ended." I protested, "No, I wasn't always happy with Bennett but there was no way that I was going to get you or anyone else involved. The king, he was beyond ruthless, Dad, I don't know what he would've done to someone who was plotting against him. Hell, I saw what he did to his own mate and that was gruesome enough for me." Tears that I had been holding back finally started to fall, slowly trickling down my cheeks as my chin trembled. I quickly wiped away the tears and tried to get a handle on myself.

"What did he do to you?" my dad asked.

"Bennett? Bennett hardly did anything to me. He is much kinder and gentler than his father and I genuinely think he cared about me." I sighed.

"Well, the king is dead so I'm having a hard time grasping why he let you go, why you wanted to be let go."

I sighed, no longer feeling uncontrollably emotional as I swirled the remaining tea in my mug. I was just so exhausted, "Can you just give me some time dad?" I asked softly, "I know that you're worried and a lot of this doesn't make sense to you, but I just need time away from Bennett, and time to think."

My dad seemed apprehensive about my sudden calmness, but after he watched me for a few more seconds he finally nodded. "Alright sweety."