As soon as we left the longhouse and entered the busy village I felt her eyes on me and it didn't take long before her strong hand grabbed my upper arm to pull me away from Mathew and the crowd.

He reacted instantly and my husband quickly placed himself between me and Angela. His large hand resting around her throat. "Whatever you need to say to him, say it now."

"I'd like to speak with Adrian in private," she hissed.

"You will address him as King."

Her eyes darted over to me, as if asking me if he was serious. I remained silent.

"Lord King, may I speak with you in private?"

"Speak now, or leave," I muttered, "we have other matters to attend to."

"Adrian!"

"Angela. You killed an innocent woman. My best friend since childhood. Do you really think I would take that lightly?"

"You'll get your chance to prove yourself to us," Mathew growled, his hand still placed around her neck. "We are leaving soon, and you are invited to join us."

Her eyes flickered from him to me and then back at him. "I thought I did the right thing."

"And now you will suffer the consequences."

"And what are those, Alpha?"

"The loss of one of your best friends. It will take time and effort to win back my husband's trust." And then he let go of her and we continued our walk. Leaving her behind with the eyes of the pack studying her. It was harsh to call her out like that in front of everyone. A part of me understood why she killed Anna, but another part hated her for it. How would the pack treat her now? Should I really care? She was the one who approached us, this was on her.

We walked towards the main gate towards the human refugee camp outside. Lycans greeted us with smiles, questions and well wishes. There was a tension in the air, but most of them seemed content. "You would need to speak to them before we leave."

"I will," Mathew agreed then squeezed my hand. "How are you holding up?"

"Full of guilt. I should have seen through his lies," I said, not realizing he was asking about Angela. But those thoughts had instantly left me as I was greeted with the sight of my people. The Geran's living in tents, forced to flee their homes, hiding from the tyrant I once trusted. And maybe even loved.

Mat stopped and pulled me to his chest, holding me tight and instantly I felt so much calmer. But as soon as he let go, the guilt washed over me again. "We were both naive. You shouldn't blame yourself."

"There's still so many loose ends, Mat, so much I don't understand."

He sighed and stroked my cheek, "I'm afraid that some of those questions might never be answered love. Try to focus on the positive. We're alive."

"What if the elves won't help us?"

He peered around at his pack moving about their day all around us. "What do you want, Adrian? Do you want your throne back?"

I'd thought about that a lot lately, and up to this point I had not been sure of the answer. But standing there, with him, I knew. "As long as we are together, and our families and friends are happy and safe, I don't care who rules Gera anymore."

"I understand that," he said with a softness he only showed me. But then he turned me around so I could see the camp spread out below the lycan village. He held me tight from behind as we were gazing down at the rows of temporary homes. I watched children playing, families gathering around fires, men and lycans working together to build even more homes for those who had none. "They need you. Adrian, you are their king. Who else is going to help them?"

I nodded, but somewhat felt betrayed. I wanted him to support me in this. "But what if I want to stay here?"

Mathew chuckled. "Wherever you go, I will follow. But that is a conversation for another time. Right now, we need the king I met at your coronation. The one with all the dreams and goals... you need to remember him. For the sake of the refugees here and the ones who stayed behind. The beggars, the children and the enslaved lycans in your city."

"I remember them," I sighed. "Everything just feels overwhelming right now. I thought I lost you."

He bent down and kissed my cheek. "But I'm here now. And so are they. Come on, let's go meet your people."

We walked out of the village gate and turned to follow a dirt path until we entered the clearing filled with tents. Outside it were lycans and men working together on building a wooden fence. "Greetings lords!" a young blond man called out and waved. "I'm glad to see you both feel better."

"Greetings Sven," I answered to his great surprise.

"You remember me Lord?"

"Of course I do. You and your family have worked for mine for as long as I can remember."

As we continued I noticed familiar faces. The stablemaster, the ratcatcher, a few of the maids who worked the kitchen and my old chef who chopped wood for the fires. I gave him a wave and he greeted me with a smile. As we continued our walk my eyes searched the crowd for Abby. My heart felt heavier with each step and I was about to give up and go ask for her when the old lady came running up towards us.

"Adrian! My boy! You're alive!" she cried and threw herself in my arms. I heard Mathew chuckle beside us and when I met his eyes I saw true happiness in them.

"I'm so glad you made it here Ms Abby" I mumbled and hugged her tighter. "I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too, son," she sobbed. "I thought you were dead. But then I heard rumors. And then we were locked away and I thought for sure he was going to kill us all. Then your lovely friend Sam saved us."

"Lovely?" Mathew chuckled.

"Indeed, a very charming fella. Now come, tell me how you're doing. You must have been so worried. And hungry!" She said and urged us towards the tent she shared with a few others to pamper me with the little food she had inside.

I smiled at the old woman, she was for sure the mother figure I always craved. "I had a rough couple of weeks, like most of us. But I'm fine now."

"And you," Abbey turned to look at Mathew with sadness in her eyes, patting his shoulder. "You've suffered more than any of us. Did you have a good cry? Even strong men like you need to let it out to move on."

"Thank you for your concern. I've cried enough for a lifetime."

"Good," she said and moved her hand to his cheek. "You know where to find me if you need me."

He gave her a thinkful smile but quickly changed the subject. "Which reminds me, you should come and live in the village. You are a part of Adrian's family, you belong in a house. Not a tent."

"I don't want to be treated differently," she gruffed. I've made a home here, together with Charlie and his daughter Emma."

"Charlie the chef?"

I watched as Ms Abbey's face turned a shade of pink before she turned away from me. "Yes, Charlie the chef. Now, did you want anything to eat or are you just passing through?"

"Actually, we need to move on. But I'll be back later tonight," I promised, kissed her cheek and we said our goodbyes.

I was there on a mission. I was searching for the other girls. I had no clue what Penelope had told Gabby or Matilda and I wanted to hear their thoughts on everything. And I needed them to keep an eye on the humans while I was away.

The girls were easily spotted in their vibrant clothes amongst all of the gray and brown in the camp. Matilda was entertaining some children while Gabrielle was the center of attention of a group of young men. As soon as they spotted us they instantly dropped what they were doing and greeted us both with warm hugs and questions.

"I heard you were alive but I wasn't sure until now," Gabrielle muttered. "There's been so much lies and speculation going around."

"Like what?" I asked with a frown on my face. I offered my arm and we walked towards a more secluded area to talk freely. Followed by Mathew and Matilda.

"There's whispers going around. Angela is a traitor? Penelope is on your council? You are half lycan. Mathew died and was reborn." She stopped to chuckle and squeezed my arm, "oh and the best one; you are a mage now?"

I rolled my eyes then peered back at Mathew, "There is a connection between me and the pack now that we're married. But I'm not part Lycan, am I?"

He sniggered and shook his head. "No, that's not how it works."

"You could turn him though? If you tried?"

He sighed and pondered the question. "I'm not sure. It's not a disease anymore. We're a different breed than the first lycans." He looked thoughtfully at the young woman. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you are all so strong and all. Maybe it would be a good thing if our king had the ability to heal faster."

I sighed at Matilda's words, but in truth, the thought was intriguing to me. "Let's just end that conversation right there. We have more urgent things to discuss with you both."

"Adrian and I are leaving," Mathew quickly added, looking relieved that I changed the subject. "We need to talk to the elves and tell them about this new threat."

"And you two want us to keep things in order while you are gone?" Gabby guessed. She'd always been smart that one.

"Yes. And also, keep an eye on the human soldiers for me?" I added with a lower voice. "They were trained to fight Lycans after all."

"Everyone here is grateful, Adrian," Matilda said with a smile. "Mathews village took us in after that terrible betrayal Roland put us through. Everyone here is loyal to you."

"Still, there might be differences in opinions eventually."

Gabby snickered and gave me a quick hug. "We'll keep them in check. You know me. I love a good soldier to keep me warm at night. That'll brighten their moods."

"She knows their numbers, right?" Mathew whispered in my ear.

"What can I say," I chuckled. "Gabriell has an appetite for young soldiers."

"Poor bastards."

We spent a few hours at the camp, returning to the village at dinnertime but none of us were in the mood to eat. The seriousness of our peoples current state was overwhelming and the responsibility on my shoulders had started to weigh on me. But not only that. My husband was acting like he hadn't just been through several weeks of torture. He acted like nothing had happened and it bothered me. We needed to talk, and we had to do it now. Before we left on another dangerous mission to the elven lands of Uthil.

"Mathew?"

"Yes my love?"

"Can we spend the rest of the evening in bed?"

He stopped me before we entered the village center, where dinner was cooking over the open fire. The scent made my stomach growl, but I ignored it. I had more pressing matters to attend to. The smile on his face grew larger and there was a glimmer of affection but also mischief in his eyes. "Is that an order from the king?"

I chuckled, "I think it is."

Suddenly I was held in his arms and carried, bridal style, towards our home. Eyes followed us and I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Showing affection in public was still so new to me and I couldn't relax until the door closed behind us. Finally we were alone again.