The Lost Warrior Princess

Confrontation

I touched my lips with my fingers and just smiled, that kiss was amazing. I never thought that a kiss could be that good. Just thinking about it gave me goosebumps all over, the feel of his hands on my skin and the taste of his lips was like nothing I could’ve imagined and he was mine. He was gentle but I could also feel that he wanted more.

My thoughts were cut short by a knock on the door and Alice walking in again carrying my duffle bag.

“ Stay here.” She said to someone on the other side of the door. She quickly shut the door and put my duffle bag on the bed next to me. I thanked her and quickly grabbed out a clean shirt and pants and looked down at my bra and underwear, they had blood on them so I had to grab a clean set of those as well.

Alice helped me get changed and put my blood covered clothes in the plastic bag and tie them off before putting them back in my duffle. After I was dressed Alice went over to the door and let Riley and Max come in and then shut the door again. I sat on the edge of the bed facing all three of them. Max went to say something but I cut him off by holding up my hand and just giving him a smile and a nod to let him know I was fine, Riley just stood with his arms across his chest. I began by asking them what the hell they thought they were doing by not following orders, even though I already knew they wouldn’t have had much of a choice because Nicolas had already told me he didn’t listen to them.

“Those bloodsuckers are the reason you got hurt in the first place, why should we protect him!?” He said with anger plastered all over his face.

“Because it is our job! We were requested to protect the prince and that’s what we will be doing! If you can’t put your issues aside with them, you can go back to HQ and be assigned to another team. I will not put up with you being disrespectful to me or to the prince, is that clear?” I was not having him getting himself and everyone else killed because of his hate towards vampires. “You should have dragged him here instead of letting him run off after me. Also, it wasn’t their fault I was hurt, it was my own. I dropped my guard when I shouldn’t have.”

I really didn’t have the energy to deal with this sh*t right now, I was still tired from the amount of blood I lost.

“You could have died! There is no way in hell I was going to help the monsters that caused this!”

“They aren’t the reason I was injured! It was my own fault! Now that’s enough, you will reframe from interacting directly with the prince and the guards unless it is a life or death situation! If you don’t follow my orders then you will be removed from my team, this is your last chance! Do you understand me!?” He glared at me with pure rage in his eyes, “do I make myself clear Riley!?”

“Yes. Captain.” He said through gritted teeth.

“Now, why were you arguing with the prince?” I ask as I rub my eyes. He seemed shocked that I knew he had been arguing with Nicolas outside the door. After a moment he composed himself.

“I don’t trust him around you.” Is all he said in return.

“ you don’t have to trust him, you just have to trust that I can handle myself and I know there is more to it then you not trusting him. Just come out and say it Riley.” I knew I was provoking him.

“There isn’t anything else. I just don’t trust the blood sucking filth.” The last comment made my blood boil, even though I knew I shouldn’t show how much the comment bothered me it was still hard.

“Is it because he has shown an interest? Because my personal life doesn’t concern you or anyone else for that matter.”

Riley was seething and I could tell that he was going to blow his temper right off any second.

“ Well? Is it?” I push him some more and as I had expected he couldn’t control his anger any longer.

“Yes it’s because he is interested in you! He isn’t good enough for you! You need someone. . .”

“What, someone like you?” I cut him off. “Someone human?”

“Yes me!” I seriously couldn’t believe it. Nicolas was right, Riley had feelings for me and I never noticed. He was breathing heavily while I just stared at him astonished. How could I have never noticed this?

“Luna, I. . .” He started but I held my hand up to stop him. I didn’t want to hear him confessing his feelings anymore.

“ I need a moment.” Max puts his hand on Riley’s shoulder as he says “come on man, Luna just woke up. This is a lot, come on lets go and check the perimeter.”

Max turned and started to walk towards the door without another word, Riley just stood there looking at me like I had just pulled his heart from his chest. I couldn’t look at him, he turned and stormed out of the room slamming the door behind him.

I let out a long sigh and rubbed my face with my hands, why did he have to go and catch feelings for me? I just found out I am mated to a vampire and then I have Riley try make his claim on me as well. Why couldn’t things just be easy?

“You were too hard on him.” Alice’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

“ I know but he can’t follow orders and he has an attitude when he is given orders he doesn’t agree with, like protecting the prince. It’s only been one day and he is already being a dick.” She gave me the ‘you know that’s not what I meant’ look. “ Alice, I had to be. I can’t have him thinking there is a chance at us being closer. I don’t see him that way, I never have and I probably never will, I have seen his temper fly and I’m not interested in being on the receiving end of that.”

“I just think that you could have handled it a bit better, that’s all.” She said.

I let out another sigh. We sat in silence for a while and even when we did speak we didn’t say much. After a while she stood up and went to leave “Just try and understand where he is coming from. He thought you weren’t going to make it and he was worried about you. Oh and Max and Riley don’t know what the prince did to save you either.”

“And it’s going to stay that way Alice, you know as well as I do that Riley would go on a rampage and try to kill every last vampire here. It wouldn’t end well for anyone involved.” Sad as it was, it was true. Riley wouldn’t be able to control his anger.

“Yeah I know, that’s why it’s just you, me and the prince that know and he is adamant that it has to stay that way.”

“I know Alice, try and get some sleep ok? We will deal with all this in the morning.” I said feeling really worn out.

“You too Luna, it’s going to be a long ride tomorrow.” She smiled and walked out.

I laid back down on the bed with a groan, everything still hurt. I tried to get as comfortable as I could by laying on the opposite side to my stitches. I was never able to lay on my back and sleep even as a child. I closed my eyes and just lay there for a little while before the bedroom door opened and then shut again. I didn't bother to roll over and look because the person was already at the other side of the bed.

I opened one of my eyes and I was right about who it could have been. Nicolas had come in like he said he was going to do.

“Did I wake you?” He asked quietly. I just shook my head, he laid on top of the blankets instead of under them like I was. “He needed to tell you how he felt, not so he could pursue you but so that he could move on with his life knowing that you didn’t have feelings for him. Chances are, he is probably someone’s mate and just hasn’t found them yet.”

I opened both my eyes and looked at him confused before realising he was talking about what had happened with Riley. “ you heard all of that?”

“Yeah, we all did. I think they probably heard you back at the clan, you were that loud.” He said with a smirk. “Just remind me never to get on your bad side.”

“Don’t do something that will piss me off and you’ll be fine.” I said back closing my eyes again.

He just chuckled, he rolled from his back to his side to face me. When he spoke it was in a hushed voice, I’m guessing so that the others didn't hear him.

“You know you’re the most beautiful girl I have ever seen?”

“What?” I asked opening my eyes to look at him, that was random.

“You’re the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.” He repeated.

“Umm..... thank you?” I wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. I hadn’t ever been told I was beautiful before

“I mean it, you’re beautiful Luna.” He leaned in and placed a kiss on my forehead. I looked up into his deep emerald green eyes. I took in every detail of his face from his high cheek bones to his chiselled jaw line. He was the most handsome man I had ever seen.

“Now that you know what I am to you, are you ok with it?” He asked quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean how do you feel about being mated to a vampire?”

I had to think about it for a moment, how did I feel about it? Only moments ago I was dealing with Riley and him admitting to having feelings for me but with Riley I felt like it was wrong, like he wasn’t the right person for me. With Nicolas I felt complete like the black empty space in my soul was slowly being filled. I was happy that someone saw me as more than a monster or a killer but at the same time I was scared that things were going to move too fast.

“Nicolas, you being a vampire isn’t something that bothers me all that much it’s just. . . I haven’t ever had someone have feelings for me and me actually returning those feelings. This is all new to me and I hope that you’re okay with things moving slow and us getting to know each other better first. Would you be ok with that?” I really hoped that he was willing to take all this slowly. He moved his hand to my cheek and stroked his thumb along it.

“My beautiful warrior princess, I have waited over a century for you. I don’t want to risk scaring you away or forcing you to do anything you’re not comfortable with. I will take things as slowly as you need me to as long as I can be near you and show you how much you mean to me.” I leaned in and gave him a small kiss, I love how soft his lips are. “And, I think my mother would actually kill me if I did anything to hurt you in any way. She has already asked to meet you once we return.” He said with a small chuckle.

“You told your mother! Oh god, my mother in-law would be a queen. Oh my god! What if she doesn’t like me? Oh no, my father in-law would be a king. Oh sh*t what if HE doesn’t like me?” I was panicking, I was so not ready to meet the in-laws.

“Hey, look at me. You will be fine, okay? My mother already thinks you’re lovely and is very excited to meet you and as for my father.” A look of worry and determination came to his face. “Well, he is just going to have to deal with it. I’m not giving you up for anything. Not even being king.” He was so sure of his feelings it made my heart swell with how much he wanted to be with me. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly. I could feel light tingles on my skin. It was an amazing feeling.

I like how I feel when he was around. I get butterflies and goosebumps all over my body. I was drawn to him, I felt safe with him. That he would protect me.

He put his hand on my hip and pulled me into his body even tighter, his breath moving my hair with every inhale and exhale he made. I froze at the feel of his hand that low, he must have realised because he moved his hand just a little higher, not high enough that his hand was on my wound but enough that I relaxed. I relaxed into him, it just felt right. He rubbed my back as I slowly drifted off to sleep.

We decided we would stay at the cabin for an extra day, Nicolas and Alice were worried about me being comfortable to ride to the next safe house. I assured them I was fine but in the end I was out numbered when Max agreed with them. I spent the day resting and going over the route I had planned before leaving the palace so that I could work in an extra day here instead of travelling. It wasn’t too hard to rework but it would mean that we would have to travel faster and skip a safe house to make up the lost time. I just hoped that tomorrows journey was smoother. But knowing my luck, it wouldn’t be.