Protect The Queen

4 - Drive In The Countryside

Haven’s POV

I’m not sure how, but it felt like I had never really slept before, and I had finally gotten the best night sleep of my life. Rolling over in my bed, I glanced at my phone, sitting on the bedside table before smiling when I remembered the emails that were sent between Bobby and me.

They must have computers or something they can use, since they don’t have phones and can only email. I’m going to have to ask Bobby or Shaun why their internet is only temporary. I get they don’t want them distracted, but won’t they need the internet to do research for their classes, or are they too barbaric and only train for fighting?

I thought back to what happened earlier in the night, and my smile broadened when I remembered what we were sharing down by the lake. Bobby’s kisses felt warm and inviting, and the conversation flowed freely. But there was something behind it all, something he wasn’t telling me. I know I said he didn’t owe me an explanation, but I would like to know what he wasn’t saying.

Did he have a girlfriend already, and he lied to me? I hope not, that would confirm what Mum and Dad were hinting at last night. I glanced at the phone again before rolling off the bed and walking to the bathroom to use the toilet, shower and change.

By the time I had finished, I stepped back into my bedroom with a towel wrapped around me, jumping at the figure sitting on my bed. “s**t, Jaz. You gave me a heart attack. A little notice would have been nice," I screamed, walking to my closet to get some clothes while Jasmine looked up at me with her auburn hair and a broad smile on her face.

Jasmine was my best friend, and Shaun’s latest girlfriend. It surprised me when they got together at Shaun’s going away party, because Shaun was never interested in her, stating he viewed her as another sister. Jasmine, on the other hand, was over the moon, because she’s had a crush on him since I could remember. From what I know, they’ve made the distance relationship work. “If you had responded to my text, you would have known I was coming over. We are going on a road trip," she replied, causing me to stop putting on my underwear before turning on my heels to stare at her.

“Road trip to where?” I questioned, not knowing if I wanted to know the answer or not. Normally, when she refers to going on a road trip, she’s heading somewhere to see my brother. Could this mean she knows about Bobby? Have rumors started around the pack I was with him last night? Maybe her parents told her.

“Relax, it’s just somewhere secluded near the warrior academy," Jasmine grinned as I raised my eyebrows at her. The warrior academy is a two-hour drive away, and I know she goes to see Shaun, because she tells me, without the details, because I don’t want to know what she does with my brother. “Shaun told…” “Shaun told you what exactly?” I seethed, cutting her off and wondering if Bobby viewed me as one of his conquests and now was telling everyone at the academy what we shared. I thought he cared about me more than that.

I picked up my phone ready to give him a piece of my mind when I saw Jasmine’s text and an email notification. I swiped the text away without opening it and opened Bobby’s email instead. I began reading, my face flushing with embarrassment at my earlier thoughts. “What did Shaun tell you?” I whispered, not glancing away from my phone screen.

“He has two new roommates and needed me to take you with me to our meet-up spot," Jasmine replied as I raised my eyes from the screen to stare at my best friend. Is he bringing Jeremy and Bobby to the spot? Or is he just bringing Bobby? “He said something about giving you an opportunity to get some answers. Answers to what?”

“I don’t know," I replied honestly, while Jasmine raised an eyebrow in my direction. She still hasn’t told me if she knows about Bobby. Does she know about him? I can’t tell her everything, not yet. It may be nothing, or Shaun wants to confront us. I’m not sure how much Bobby has told him. He just said he told him about us spending last night together. “Maybe it has something to do with the warrior cadet I took to the lake.”

“What?” Jasmine screamed, not hiding the look of betrayal etched all over her face. OK! She doesn’t know about Bobby. “You took a cadet to the lake, and you didn’t tell me? I thought we were best friends," she added, holding her hand over her heart as though she was going to pass out because I hadn’t texted her to let her know.

“Nothing happened…” I began as her blue eyes narrowed on me as though she knew I was lying. Jasmine knows me better than I know myself sometimes. “OK, we kissed but nothing else happened, I promise. We just talked, watched the sunset, and we kissed and cuddled until he had to catch his bus, then I came home. He emailed me last night and I found out he’s Shaun’s roommate and they talked. Shaun probably wants to get my version of events.”

“Hurry up and get dressed," Jasmine yelled, more excited than I felt, standing up from the edge of the bed and walking over to my closet to throw a pair of jeans at my face, causing me to roll my eyes as I pulled a mint-green T-shirt over my head.

I got dressed and added a little make-up to my face, at Jasmine’s persistence, before we both started to run down the stairs. “Not so fast, you two," Dad shouted, stopping Jasmine and me from moving further, folding his arms in the process while scrutinizing our appearance. “Where do you think you are going?”

“We were heading to Aunty Harriot’s to get some breakfast, Alpha," Jasmine answered innocently, referring to the café rather than her parents, as I nodded my head agreeing with her, while Dad narrowed his green eyes at us. Shaun and I both inherited Dad’s eyes, while the rest of me looked like Mum and Shaun looked like Dad with Mum’s mousy brown hair like mine. “And then we thought we could go for a drive in the countryside.”

“A drive in the countryside?” Dad queried, raising his eyebrows, although it was more of a statement as I kept nodding my head because I didn’t know what else to do, and I didn’t want another lecture like I had last night from both my parents. “Say hi to Shaun and Bobby for me.” I gasped because I never actually told dad Bobby’s name; Mum must have told him. “Oh! And your mother wants to meet the boy who has gotten you to add make-up to your face.”

“I told you the make-up was too much," I seethed quietly, while Jasmine rolled her eyes before shaking her auburn hair and pushed me towards the front door.

We walked out the front door to where Jasmine’s red sedan was parked, and I hopped into the front passenger seat, before she climbed into the driver's seat and slowly drove down the road to the café. “This cadet’s name is Bobby?” Jasmine asked, giving me a side glance as my cheeks began to flush pink at leaving that detail out. “I… Nah, it wouldn’t be.”

It wouldn’t be; what? She can’t just say something like that and leave it. I opened my mouth to say something when Jasmine pulled in front of the café and got out, before I could. She stepped back into the driver’s seat five minutes later with two breakfast croissants in her hand. “Here," she muttered, handing me one of the croissants, before taking a bite of the other while putting the car in drive again and pulling back onto the road.

“What did you mean by, nah, it wouldn’t be?” I asked before taking a bite of my croissant aimlessly, not really in the mood for breakfast.

Jasmine gave me a side glance as though I grew a second head while chewing without answering my question. I swallowed my mouthful and opened my mouth to say something again; “Bobby, can it be a nickname for something else?” she queried, causing me to turn my head and stare at her. It could and most likely is, but he didn’t say his name was something else. “Robert, perhaps," she added.

My mouth dropped open, but no sound came out. Is she implying Bobby is the infamous prince nobody knows? It would explain the secrecy and family obligations he kept telling me about. It also explains why he said he was isolated from people our age. As we drove, the theory gained momentum, and I couldn’t shake the feeling there was a basis to it. “You’re quiet. You think it’s him, don’t you?”

“If it was him, why would he go to the academy as a regular cadet and not early admissions like Shaun?” I answered, trying to convince myself he wasn’t the crown prince of the southern kingdom and failing miserably. “Come to think of it, he wouldn’t be catching a bus either. No, I don’t think Bobby is the prince.”

Jasmine stared at me a moment before turning her eyes back to the road, a smug grin beginning to appear on her face. “So, what did the two of you talk about? Between kissing that is," she asked, causing my cheeks to flush pink again.

“He confessed he saw me shoving his other roommate into his burger," I laughed as Jasmine gave me a side glance before rolling her eyes towards the road. “He was being a d**k and tried to put his hand on me. I wasn’t going to stand for it.”

“What else is new?” Jasmine muttered under her breath as I narrowed my eyes at her before we both burst into fits of giggles. “Anything else?” she added the moment we calmed down.

“Not really. He confessed he saw me through the window and asked if it was OK, if he could kiss me, and I said yes. We sat, watching the sunset and cuddled; that’s about it," I answered, deliberately leaving out the part where it would look like he was the prince. The more I think about it, the more absurd it would be for him to be the prince. Princes are stuck up and entitled; Bobby wasn’t any of those things. He was kind and thoughtful, a far cry from what you expect a prince to act like.

“Well, whoever this guy is, it’s clear you have the hots for him," Jasmine remarked, giving me another smug grin which caused my face to flush again. “And truthfully, it’s about time. Do you know what it’s like to have your best friend dismiss every advance that comes her way?”

“Nice to see I’m accommodating your needs," I seethed playfully, before the pair of us burst into more laughter; “And I know what I want," I added with a small shrug that caused us both to giggle again.

“And he comes in the form of a warrior cadet that is rooming with my mmm… boyfriend," Jasmine replied as I snapped my head towards her, my eyes bulging wide with surprise. Was she about to say, mate? That’s news to me. It also explains why Shaun had a change of heart, but how would she know? She’s a few months older than I am and still has 2 months before she’s 18. “Don’t act surprised, Haven. Shaun told me who I was to him. Anyone else I wouldn’t have believed them, but it’s Shaun. Maybe Bobby is your mate. Maybe that’s why you have a stronger connection to him, since goddess knows you haven’t been interested in anyone else.”

“He didn’t say anything to me, so no, I’m not his mate. I’m just someone passing in the night who he found a connection with," I argued, while Jasmine kept her eyes on the road, staying silent as though she didn’t believe me. I know some people will reveal if they are mates early, to get what they want. Some have even lied about being a mate. Although I agree with Jasmine, Shaun wouldn’t lie about something like that. Dad would have his head if he did. “You are going to be my sister-in-law, that is so awesome," I added, changing the subject back to her and Shaun, which I was relieved about finding an opening, so I could. “When did he tell you?”

“After he left, he emailed me a spot to meet up. I was so over the moon when he finally looked my way at his party. I didn’t think he was actually my mate," Jasmine replied, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink at whatever else she was thinking, probably what my brother and her had gotten up to after he told her. “He wanted me to find out for myself but couldn’t wait that long. Neither of us have told anyone, so keep it under wraps, OK?”

“Your secret is safe with me," I replied, giving my best friend a genuine smile as we continued driving down the highway.

The rest of the two-hour trip went by quickly, while we changed the subject away from Bobby and Shaun to keep our minds from spinning all sorts of scenarios on what answers needed to be given. By the time Jasmine pulled onto a small dirt road, I had so many butterflies in my stomach and my mouth was so dry, no amount of water was able to replenish it again.

Jasmine pulled up to a small run-down shack, and we stepped out of the car. I could hear the distant sounds of the cadets training and my mind decided to envision Bobby being one of them, shirtless and sweaty… “They’ll get here soon, we should make ourselves comfortable," Jasmine noted, pulling me from my thoughts and taking a step towards the door to the shack. Thank goddess because it was starting to get hot all of a sudden and I didn’t want Jasmine to notice what I was thinking about.

“What is this place?” I asked, looking around as I stepped inside to see a small kitchenette, bed and lounge chair with a closed door to the side. You wouldn’t have been able to guess from the outside; it was a functioning building.

“Shaun said, one of his professors mentioned it to him, since he had a mate. He’s only allowed to use it, when he isn’t in training," Jasmine replied, moving forward to the dark brown leather sofa and sat down.

I sat down next to her and waited for Shaun to arrive. Whether Bobby was with him; that will soon be determined. Personally, I just want some answers and if this is where I get them, then so be it.