IMPERIALS

Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One

Four weeks. That's how long I had been away from Elias. Every night I felt his pain and every night I would cry to sleep trying to reassure myself that this was the right thing to do.

I had tried to reach for him through our bond, to tell him that I was safe, but knowing that just a simple 'hi' would be enough for him to locate me, made me doubt the whole idea.

Working as a waitress in Flora's dinner had not been easy in the beginning seeing that I hadn't worked a day in my life before. However, I soon got the hang of arranging tables, getting the proper order and learning not to serve a diabetic man three chocolate syrup pancakes.

Flora had been a patient mentor since day one and of course her staff had become my new family ever since I started working there. They taught me how to bill for a hotel room and how to cook enough meal for a large family.

Flora had tried to convince me multiple times to make the small town my permanent home but I continued to refuse on every occasion. After hearing my cries one night she insisted I tell her my story or else she wouldn't accept me as her employee any longer.

Knowing that she would never understand my situation seeing that she wasn't a werewolf, I had to make up a story that mainly consisted of having family problems which in the long run it didn't come out as completely a lie.

Later that night she told me I no longer owned her anything for the room so I could save the money to go where I needed to feel safe again.

Day 29 the rouge called me from the diner and told me to meet him at a nearby café. I did as I was told and forty minutes later he handed me a white envelope with a US passport and a territory permit in it. "Analisa Castilla" I read my new name from the blue document. "You know that's not French right. Its Spanish."

"What's Spanish?" The rouge look at me confused as he took a sip of his black coffee.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance and looked down at the passport. "The last name. Its Spanish. I'm from France not Spain."

The rouge was now looking at me bewildered "Who the fuck cares where you are from. All you need to care about is that you're a US citizen and have a territory permit to pass through the Lucania Imperial Packs. The rest is shit."

Angered at his words I quickly growled at the lack of respect. "Don't growl at me cause it's not going to work. Whatever power you had was lost the minute you decided to run away from it. We're the same kind now remember?" The rouge smirked as he took another sip from the cup. "Look just hand me my money and I promise we don't have to see each other ever again."

Shocked from the truth that his words held, I handed him the cash and grabbed the envelope. As soon as I headed for the door the rogue chuckled and spoke again. "You know, rumor has it that our new queen has escaped. I think the king will soon put out a big fat check for whoever finds her."

My whole body froze as a light shiver ran through my spine. My eye flickered to golden as I stared at the wooden board that held the daily menu. "Well good luck with that big fat check then" I answered carefully steadying my tone.

"This new queen they are describing sounds a lot like you." The rogue continued, moving from his chair and slowly approaching me. "Brunette, blue eyes, tall, pretty, Lucanian" His accent got changed as he emphasized on the word Lucanian. "Tell me Analisa what's your real name huh?"

I quickly turned to his side and narrowed my eyes. His face grew weary and studied my features carefully. "I guarantee you I am not that girl." I said confidently. "Now tell, why do you think I would ever escape from the title of queen or the wealth." I turned the other way and reached for the metallic doorknob smirking "Besides I heard the king is a total babe. I wouldn't miss the chance to have him now would I." I said winking at him. My heart clenched at my lies.
I didn't care about the titles, the power or the wealth. I only cared for Elias. I only wanted him

However as soon as I left the café I felt a firm hand wrap around my arm, holding me in one place. "You're her aren't you?"

I quickly removed my arm from his grip and pushed him further, I might have lost my title as princess but I still had royal blood in me. "No I'm not so please leave me alone"

"Why the hell would you run away from your own mate. Don't you have a fucking soul?" He asked irritated as he took a few steps towards me.

Scared of what he might do I stepped away from him while trying to make a run for myself. "Why do you care about him? Aren't you a rouge anyway? Break the law, terrorize packs, that's your thing, isn't it ? You should be happy you don't have a new ruler." I stated coldly

"So you admit you are her?" He growled angry at my words

I shook my head trying to seem convincing enough for him to let me go "No im not -"

"You're lying" the rouge practically screamed as his eyes quickly flickered to a golden color. "This Imperial will go to shit if the king doesn't have his mate. Then the Lucania trash will take over of both Imperials and it will be just like Medieval times again." He spat with hatred as words continued to flow out without making any sense

I felt horrified from his anger and hatred words against the Lucania packs. "They are not all that bad" I whispered more to myself than to him.

"Yeah no shit, they got you all brainwashed." He growled

I took a deep breath and looked at him. His eyes were now fully golden and he struggled to keep his wolf at bay. "Listen I promise I'm not the queen. I would never run away from my mate. I just want to go back home to my family okay. I promise you even if you take me to the king he won't give you that check because I'm not the woman he's looking for."

Hearing my words, the rouge slowly let my arm free. I wanted to think he truly believed me but something about him said that he was completely convinced. "There is no check. Our king wouldn't be stupid enough to alarm his packs regarding the absent of their queen."

He gave me a quick glance one last time and walked over to his motorcycle. "It's not my place to take you back home, but you're not worthy of any happiness if you let your own soul mate to rot in misery and sadness. And that's coming from a heartless rouge" He said and left, leaving behind a trail of dust in the air.

His words pained me as they held all the truth in the world. I was stupid to think that Elias would recuperate from losing his mate. However, Niccolo had already started the war and knowing his fighting skills, Elias would not have a chance. Nor would the Imperial.

I headed back to the diner feeling mentally exhausted and drained from the all the previous events. As soon as I opened the door, Flora eyed me closely and quickly ran to my side. "Honey are you okay, you look very pale."

I nodded slowly ignoring her concern and headed to my room. "Sophia do you want me to call a doctor to check on you? Flora asked from the bottom of the stairs continued to sound concerned.

"No doctors thank you, I just need to rest for a bit please" I answered and I locked the door to my room.

I went to my dresser and pulled out the stack of cash I had put in-between my clothes. I spread everything on the floor and started counting all the money I had left.

When I finished growled in irritation. There weren't enough to buy a cheap ticket to another state let alone Europe. I was at least another week short of money. That meant I had to stay here longer and take double the shifts if it meant reaching Niccolo in time.

I laid on my bed and took out the passport again. I felt I was looking at a different person. Analisa Castilla looked tired from her long trip, but the girl on my mirror reflected my tiredness of life.

I looked freakishly pale and sickly. Dark circles were forming under my eyes as if I had not slept for days and my cheekbones looked more sharp than ever before. My body was physically drained from the all the work and lack of sleep.

I no longer felt happy or hopeful of anything.