Chapter 190

Carol’s POV

“You have to call me every day,” Fiona said as she hugged me tightly. “Promise me…”

I chuckled as I hugged her back just as tightly.

“Every day seems like a stretch,” I told her.

“I’m going to miss you,” she cried. “We finally get to live in the same area again and now you’re leaving.” She pouted and I could see Oliver smiling in the background as he watched his mate.

I smiled at her and put my hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

“It’s only for a couple of months,” I told her, “I’ll be back before you know it.”

She sniffled and stepped away so my parents could hug me next.

“We love you, Care-bear,” my father said, holding me tightly. “Kick some ass and then come back safely.”

I smiled at my father’s choice of words.

“Will do, Dad,” I said softly.

“I love you so much,” my mother said, cupping my face in her hands. “Please keep us updated on everything.”

“Of course, I will,” I told her.

I pulled away from them and rushed into Aiden’s arms. He held me tightly and kissed the nape of my neck, licking my neck gently, reminding me that I was his. Like I could ever forget.

I smiled up at him and his lips brushed across mine, kissing me gently and deeply.

“I’m going to miss these kisses,” he murmured against my lips.

“You’ll have to come see me often if you want these lips,” I teased.

He brushed his nose against mine and grinned.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

“We should get going,” the King said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “It’ll be dark when we return to the empire.”

I sighed and kissed Aiden one last thing; I really didn’t want to leave, but I spent most of the night talking it over with Aiden and we both thought it might be in my best interest if I did what the King wanted. I did have all these powers surging through me that I should learn how to use and control so that I could better protect myself, my child, and my pack.

I stepped towards the Alpha King and looked behind him at the private plane waiting on standby for us to board. The King had his warriors pack my things already and load them on the plane. I didn’t like the fact that strangers went through my stuff, but I didn’t really have a say in any of this.

After another round of goodbyes, I walked with the King to the plane and stepped inside. As I sat in a very cushioned and luxurious seat, I gazed out the window to see my friends and family watching me with wary looks. My heart squeezed in my chest, and I hated the fact that I was leaving them behind. I wished I could take them with me, or that my biological father could just stay here. But he insisted that I go there because there were resources there that he couldn’t get here.

I wrapped my arms around my body and blinked a few times, trying to clear my eyes from the tears that burned in them. My biological father sat in the seat across from me and he too was looking out the window at my friend and family; a frown marring his lips.

“You have quite the fanbase,” he murmured, staring at them all.

Turned my eyes at him, glaring at him, and pressed my lips together.

“Yes, and you are taking me away from them,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.

“It’s for your own good,” he said, raising his brows. “I don’t like hearing that you are in danger every time I turn around. I’m not sure how you survived all this time without me in the first place.”

“I survived because I have incredible people in my corner,” I told him.

“Perhaps,” he conceded. “But that doesn’t you shouldn’t learn how to use your powers properly and defend yourself more.”

“I didn’t know I was in danger to defend myself. I’ve used my powers before,” I told him.

“Yes, but you could have used them at any point to get you out of this situation before it escalated too badly,” he explained.

“He drugged me,” I reminded him through my teeth.

“If you were strong enough, no drugs would stop your powers,” he told me, stunning me silently.

I stared at him with wide eyes.

“What?”

“You are meant to be the high priestess, Carol. You have three different priestess blood and powers coursing through your veins. There isn’t a drug in the world that could stop you. You are untrained and weak enough that simple wolfbane stopped you. Or maybe it was because you didn’t think to try.”

“I…” I stammered. “I couldn’t feel my powers…”

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

The plane began to move, and I held onto the armrest. I bit my lip; I felt foolish that I hadn’t known that information. He was right, if I was able to subdue the drugs Allen had given me and use my powers, then I was either not strong enough or not smart enough. Could I have gotten out of that situation by myself without needing to be rescued?

“I know it’s a lot for you to take in,” he said, reading my expression. “But I promise you, we will figure this out together and you will learn everything you need to know.”

I nodded and forced a small smile in his direction. Perhaps this truly would be good for me. If anything, I could at least get to know King Bennet a little better.

“So, when are we going to start with my training?” I asked.

He opened his mouth to answer but shut it as the plane took off. I felt my head spinning from the altitude. I glanced out the window again and saw my family and friends starting to walk back towards their waiting cars. The only one who remained was Aiden and his eyes were still on me. I put my hand on the window, giving him a small wave and he gave me a sad smile, returning the small wave.

I kept my eyes on him until we were separated by the clouds, and I could no longer see him. My throbbed painfully in my chest and I couldn’t stop the tears from burning in my eyes. I kept my eyes fixated out the window, my bottom lip trembling. I felt like a baby at that moment, but I couldn’t help myself. I was leaving everyone I knew and loved; I knew it was only a couple of months, but it felt like an eternity away from my mate.

“Aiden can visit whenever he wants,” King Bennet assured me. “You won’t be without your mate.”

I gave him a grateful smile.

“Thank you,” I told him, staring down at my hands and tugging at my fingers nervously.

“To answer your question, we will start tomorrow,” he answered my earlier question. “I have to warn you though, the empire is a little off as we don’t have a Beta right now. It’s kind of mayhem, but we are dealing with it in the best way that we can. My wife is doing a lot right now and has been quite busy as has Jenna.”

I winced at Jenna’s name being mentioned; I knew Jenna didn’t like me. She made that quite obvious the last time I saw her. I wondered if she was still against me and if she would try anything once I got there. I made a mental note to keep an eye on her; maybe I could use my new skills to defend myself against her wrath.

“I’ve appointed some of my warriors to help with your training as well,” he explained. “But tomorrow, we are going to start light. I wanted to teach you some of our history so that you can better understand where your powers are coming from and why they were given to you.”

I hadn’t even thought about that; I nodded, suddenly excited to know about my ancestry and find more out about my powers.

“Would you tell me more about my mother too?” I asked; I felt a little foolish asking, but I needed to know.

He nodded.

“Of course,” he told me, giving me a small smile. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know, but it’ll wait until tomorrow. For right now, let’s just enjoy the plane ride and not think much about anything.”

Truth be told, I liked that idea. I was still exhausted after being captured for the last couple of days and my head was still a bit foggy. The doctor prescribed me some medication and the King called his Healers to take a look at me once I got back to his empire.

I was excited to see Candance again; he promised me that she was safe, and she didn’t get any serious repercussions for keeping that powerful drug on hand and allowing others to steal it. Them stealing the locked drugs was not her fault and I’m glad they allowed her to keep her job.

Bennet asked me to call him by his first name if I’m not comfortable calling him Dad, and I spoke about mindless things. I got to know him a bit better and in return, he got to know me better as well. At some point though, I fell asleep.

He woke me when the plane touched the ground and one of the flight attendants told us that we would be unboarding shortly.

“Ready?” He asked as the seatbelt light turned off and the flight attendant motioned for us to carefully leave the plane.

I nodded, giving him a smile as I followed him out of the plane. I thanked the pilot and the flight attendants before walking down the steps and touching the ground. There was a luxurious black car waiting for us; one of Bennet’s subordinates got out of the car and opened the back door for us.

Bennet got in the car first and just as I was about to get in, I froze when I saw the queen seated inside the car. She looked up at me, a smirk on her lips and her perfectly raised brows high on her forehead.

“Carol,” she greeted, her voice almost icy and sending a chill down my spine. “How wonderful to see you again.”