Chapter 25 Take Me to Your Room
We weren’t too far away from the back door. It seemed that quite a few people were in the hallway. They were checking out, maybe?
“It’s getting late,” Warren said. “We should probably go back inside and prepare for our journey. We have a long trip ahead of us tomorrow.”
He was right. If we continued to walk to my pack lands, it would take a while. We’d discussed the possibility of taking public transportation, now that
we were in a village, but | thought it might still be a bit risky until we were farther away from the capital. He could be recognized, and then word
could get back to Prince Theo of where we were.
Just the thought of Theo discovering what we were up to made my stomach ache. I didn’t want to think about how terrifying his reaction would be
when he found out I’d escaped.
Without a word, I stood and took Warren’s offered arm. He carried the wine and the glasses but disposed of the empty bottle in a trash can outside
of the building. I hadn’t drunk that much, which meant that he had consumed most of the bottle, but he didn’t seem drunk at all. I figured a man of
his
size could probably handle his liquor.
When we walked inside, the sweet older woman who ran the hostel was standing behind the desk.
“Let me return those glasses to the front desk. I’ll ask whether they have another room available.” I looked at Warren gratefully. He was always so
considerate.
It was obvious that the receptionist was charmed by Warren. Who wouldn’t be? The moment she saw us, she
had a big smile on her face.
“Mr. Travel! Good evening! This must be Mrs. Travel! So good to see you’re getting better. Aww… you two are so adorable!” she said, causing me
to stop and look at her, not quite understanding what she was saying. “It’s so sweet the way that your husband took care of you when you were ill!”
she said to me.
My mouth hung open as I turned to look at Warren. He was chuckling, but he didn’t correct her. He must have made up a name when checking us
in…
My face was burning, and I was so embarrassed. Meanwhile, Warren just nodded at her like a gentleman.
“Such a beautiful, gentle little wife, and a handsome, masculine, but tender man. You are both very lucky to have
found one another,” she continued. “Very few people are so lucky as to find their perfect match in a spouse!”
“Uhm, actually-” I began, no longer wishing to live the lie, especially since we were about to ask for another room. But before I could say a word, I
felt a cold chill go down my spine and realized we were no longer alone in the reception
area.
“Actually,” a deep, dangerous male voice said behind me, “she is not my brother’s wife, not even a little bit.”
I turned around to see the dark eyes of an irate prince and felt my knees cave in on themselves. If Warren hadn’t been holding my arm, I might’ve
fallen.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Prince Theo!” I gasped. Then seeing his angry face, I forced a smile and lowered my head, “Greetings, Your Highness…”
“Cut that. Where do you think you’re going?” His tone was cold as he quickly closed the space between us.
“I…” I swallowed hard. “I just wanted to go home.”
As soon as I said the word “home,” I turned around and ran for the door, but I wasn’t fast enough. Next
thing I knew, I was already pulled into Theo’s strong arms.
“Let me go!” I protested loudly.
But his arms were even tighter. I felt I needed to work hard
to suck in air.
“Like I said, where do you think you’re going?” Theo’s refreshing scent surrounded me, and it
smelled… alluring. Who would know that it belonged to such a devil?!
I was grateful to Warren when he stepped in. “Theo, please don’t do this-”
“It’s none of your business,” Theo warned Warren. His tone was icy.
“But-”
“Last time I checked, she is my luna candidate, not yours!”
The receptionist gasped loudly and slowly backed away from us, disappearing out a side door. I
couldn’t blame her. I wouldn’t want to be mixed up in the royals’ problems
either if I didn’t have to be.
Warren didn’t give up. “Listen, Theo, there was a misunderstanding here. Ciana isn’t a spy. If you just
allow us to explain-”
Theo certainly wasn’t going to listen to either Warren or me. He had a habit of forming his own opinions
about situations and refusing to listen to anyone who might be
able to tell him that he was mistaken.
“Stay out of this,” he said, and I could tell that was all the patience Theo was willing to give, “or I’ll throw
you in the dungeon for releasing my prisoner!”
“No,” Warren said, his hand on my arm. “She is not a criminal, and I will not let you hurt her again!”
Rather than acknowledging anything that Warren had just said to him, Theo took a step forward and
deepened his glare. “Step. Aside.”
Warren stood to his full height, the scowl on his face more outraged than I’d ever seen him look before.
“Make me,” he said.
It felt as if the temperature around us had dropped. A chill coursed down my spine. I could sense that
Theo was
getting angry.
Most of the time, the dangerous prince didn’t have strong emotions. He was just cold and distant.
However, at this moment, I could tell he was really getting angry.
Then I remembered all of the stories I’d heard about the
Dark Prince. He was ruthless, and he probably wouldn’t mind beating up his own brother if Warren
continued to
stay in his way.
I’d already gotten Warren in a lot of trouble, but I would never allow Warren to get harmed because of
me!
“Prince Warren!” I shouted, successfully drawing both of their attention to me. “Stop, please.”
Warren turned and looked at me, his eyes wide with surprise. “No, I can’t just let him take you.”
“It’s okay,” I assured him. “You should just go. Prince Theo won’t hurt me….” At least not until he got his
stupid
dreamberry.
“Ciana!” Warren said, his eyes pleading as he leaned close to me. “How do you know that? What if-”
“Trust me,” I urged. I took a deep breath and told him, “Leave now. I promise I’ll be okay!”
His eyes locked on mine, and for the first time since I’d met him in the woods all of those years ago, I
wanted to kiss him, to raise up on my tiptoes and press my lips to his.
I’d been a fool for ever hesitating when he’d asked me on a
date. And for what? The monster wrapped around me?
Warren was hesitant. I continued to beg him, “Warren, I know what I’m doing. I’ll be fine, and I don’t
want to see anything happen to you. Please, listen to me, just this once.
Please!”
Theo let out a displeased humph. For some reason, he
always had a problem whenever I tried to do something or say something for Warren’s sake.
“You heard her,” Theo said to his brother impatiently. “Move or else you will get hurt.”.
“I don’t care about me! But if you ever hurt her,” Warren began, turning to point at his brother as he
glared at Prince Theo, “I swear it will be the very last thing that you ever do,
brother.”
Theo smirked coldly, but he didn’t reply to Warren’s
comment.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmMy heart swelled at Warren’s words. He was standing up for me to the most fearsome man in all the land. A
thousand thoughts filtered through my mind, but there was no way that I could express my gratitude to him in mere words, so my tear-filled gaze
had to do.
I had no idea what would become of me now, and I didn’t
really care.
I had been attempting to save my people by escaping the palace, and I had failed.
I’d also managed to get the kindest, most gentle man in the
world in trouble….
I hoped that Theo would at least spare the people who
owned the hostel.
The warmth from Warren’s gaze slowly traced my face before he turned and walked out through the main entrance, leaving me alone with the Dark
Prince.
Relieved at the fact that Theo didn’t plan on punishing Warren, I turned my full attention to dealing with the devil.
Theo’s arms loosened a little, and his tone softened slightly. “Now tell me, why did you run away?”
Was this guy serious?! He threw me in jail and starved me for days for no reason, and now he felt I was in the wrong to run away from the hell
called the royal palace?
He must be joking, right?
Well, thank goodness I still had my wits about me.
“Because… I was playing a game of hide-and-seek,” I told him, glaring right back at him. “I guess you won that round. Let’s try again.”
He scoffed, and one side of his mouth actually turned up in
a slight grin before he caught himself. “Let’s go,” he said, motioning for the door. “Walk with me, or I can drag you along. Your choice.”
“How generous!” I couldn’t help but bite back sarcastically. “The Dark Prince was willing to let someone choose to walk or to be dragged to their
death!”
His dark stare fell on my face, and I felt the need to swallow back the lump of terror in my throat, but I didn’t. I kept my eyes locked on his, doing my
best to show him that I wasn’t afraid.
I announced my decision before he said anything else. “I’|| walk.”
The farther away from him, the better.
I knew my escape attempt had come to an end, and the wise thing to do was to obey him at the moment. There was no point in fighting against
him. I didn’t stand a chance to win, especially since I knew that Theo’s men were around us somewhere, providing protection for their prince, even
though I couldn’t see them.
He released me from his arms as he took a few deep breaths in. Then he said in his usual cold tone, “Take me to your room.”