Caroline raised an eyebrow in question before she cocked her head and studied me. "What do you mean it was a bust? What happened?" she asked. Worry and concern filled her eyes while she studied me, pressing her lips into a thin line. "Did you not see them?"

I bit back a small smile and shook my head before I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet. "I did not get to see them because someone pushed me away before I was able to exit the area." I rolled my eyes and scowled, pressing my lips into a thin line.

Caroline grew stiff, and she narrowed her eyes and scowled. Protectiveness and worry flashed through her eyes while she stared at me with a hard look in her eyes. "Who?" she asked coldly, and I raised an eyebrow in question, mildly impressed that she was protective of me. "Who didn't allow you to go see him?"

"Why are you getting so protective of me?" I asked before I cocked my head and studied her with a small smile on my face, not answering her question. "It's not that big of a deal, even though it's something that I did need to do and will still need to do sometime in the future."

Caroline hesitated before she shrugged and pressed her lips into a thin line. Her cheeks turned a little red, and she looked away before she looked at me. "I don't know," she admitted before she cleared her throat and shifted on her feet. "I am just protective of you, even though I am sure that you are a lot stronger than me."

I bit back a small laugh before I slowly nodded in confirmation because I was stronger than her. "Yes, yes, I am." I cleared my throat and licked my lips, biting back another small chuckle. "I am stronger than you for at least right now, but that could all change once you start training." I flashed her a small smirk and a wink, and Caroline hesitated some more before she bit the bottom of her lip and slowly nodded.

I sighed and moved a hand through my hair and across my face before I shifted on my feet. I cleared my throat and licked my lips, biting the inside of my lip. "Don't worry about it, I am worried about you," I said and tucked my head closer to my chest, biting back a small smile. "And I am protective of you as well."

"Even though you are not one of my protectors," Caroline said and flashed me a small smirk and a wink, and I bit back a small laugh and slowly nodded in confirmation.

"No, no I am not," I said and licked my lips, growing serious, "but that doesn't stop me from being protective of you and wanting to make sure that you stay safe and alive." I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet before I gestured toward the chairs. "Now, do you want to go ahead and sit down?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question, changing the subject. "We can discuss more of what happened to me as soon as we do so."

Caroline hesitated before she slowly nodded. She did what I told her to do and walked over to the chairs, and I followed her while I placed my hands behind my back. She didn't say a word while she looked at me with wide eyes filled with nervousness and fear as if she was afraid of what I would tell her.

"It's nothing bad, Caroline," I said with a small laugh in my voice and a shake of my head. I cleared my throat and grew serious while I slowly blinked and sat down in one of the chairs, and Caroline sat down in a chair beside me with a small sigh. "I mean, it could have gone better, but it could have gone worse."

Caroline blinked and blinked again, and she looked at me with a worried look on her face. "What do you mean it could have gone worse, Ky?" she asked and raised an eyebrow in question while she cocked her head to the side and studied me with an intense look on her face. "I mean, I thought the worst could have happened if you didn't meet him, and you didn't meet him because of something."

I laughed and shook my head. "No," I said before I cleared my throat to hide a chuckle before I shifted in my seat. "Nothing bad would have happened to us if I didn't meet him. Like I said, I think he had information for me, which is why I wanted to meet him, but I wasn't able to because I got stopped before I could leave the safety of this place."

"By?" She furrowed her brows and cocked her head to the side with a small frown on her face. "Who did you get stopped by?"

"Percy," I replied. I leaned back in my seat and folded my arms across my chest, biting back a small sigh of annoyance. I set my jaw and tapped my fingers against my side, getting annoyed with him again. "Percy stopped me from going outside of the barrier and meeting him."

Caroline frowned and furrowed her brows. Concern and worry flashed through her eyes, and I could tell that she didn't like the idea of Percy stopping me from going outside of the barrier when it was something that I needed to do to help them.

I bit back a tired sigh and moved a hand through my hair and across my face before I shook my head, pursing my lips in annoyance. "It's fine," I said coldly before I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. "Don't be too mad at him because he was trying to protect me and didn't know that I wanted to follow that feeling." I shrugged and grimaced, pressing my lips into a thin line. "He also wanted to make sure that I would be able to stay here because if I leave, then Cooper won't allow me to come back."

"Why not?" she asked and cocked her head while she studied me. She furrowed her brows and frowned while she studied me. "I mean, you are here to help us, so why would he not allow you to come back?"

"Because he hates me," I said and rolled my eyes with a small scowl on my face, and my heart ached because that man still had my father's face even if he wasn't my father. "He doesn't like me at all, and he won't like me no matter how much I try to get him to."

"Unless you kick his ass," Caroline supplied, hesitantly, and I couldn't help but laugh before I nodded.

"Yes, yes," I said and cleared my throat to hide a chuckle. I shifted in my seat before I bit back a tired sigh and grew serious. "However, I don't want to kick his ass like that because I have no idea if he will allow me to stay or not."

"And if you are forced to leave the safety of this place, will you take me with you?" she asked and raised an eyebrow in question. Hope and hesitancy flashed through her eyes, and she looked afraid that I was going to leave her behind.

I nodded, and Caroline breathed a small sigh of relief while she slowly but surely started to relax. "Absolutely," I said, "because you need to do this stuff and find everyone else that you need to find for both you gaining your wolf and then meeting all of your Protectors." I shrugged and grimaced, pressing my lips into a thin line. "We can't trust Silas just yet, so ya."

Caroline frowned and narrowed her eyes. The hair on the back of her neck stood at attention while she stared at me with a protective look in her eyes. "And why not?" she asked protectively. "Did he hurt you?"

I busted out laughing and shook my head. "Oh, no," I said before I cleared my throat and licked my lips. "He did not hurt me at all. He can not lay a hand on me, so I wouldn't worry about that."

Caroline's frown grew deeper, and I looked at her, amused while I raised an eyebrow in question. "Then why are you being so wary of him?" she asked and cocked her head to the side while she studied me. "I mean, if he hasn't laid a hand on you, then why do you not trust him?"

"Because of him being so secretive," I said and shrugged with a small grimace on my face. "Long story short, he is acting like one of my uncles when he had been... ordered to act as the Werewolf Prince in hopes of gaining information from my mother and her group. They hoped that they could spoil her plans and make sure that she couldn't do them.

"And?" she raised an eyebrow in question while she cocked her head and studied me. "Did it work?"

I bit back a small smile and shook my head. "Not really," I replied before I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. "And I think that was what pissed off the group that he was "associated" with because my mother was able to foil their plans and rescue almost everyone with the prince included."

"Almost everyone?" Caroline asked and studied me further. Her frown grew deeper, and a look of worry appeared on her face. "What do you mean by almost everyone, Ky?"

I bit a small smile and shook my head, and my heart ached because I knew that my mother was still feeling guilty about not being able to rescue that one person all of those years ago. "She was too late to save one person," I said softly, my voice barely above a whisper. "She had to kill them because they were feral and insane and would have been a liability to the kingdoms and herself, and I know for a fact that she is beating up on herself, even though it wasn't her fault, and she wasn't the cause of their death and just put them out of their misery before it was too late."