Chapter Twelve

The feeling of fear evaporated, guilt and worry mixing together as I left my village home and entered reality. I was surrounded by the enforcers, who were waiting for me to even breathe too hard before they killed me.

In front of me was Prince Gordon, clutching his face as if that would cause the endless bleeding to cease. One of the enforcers had handed him their jacket, eyes slit and warily on me. He had every right, as this was all my fault.

I shouldn't have let the situation get to me. I should've stayed in reality and watched for Kai to come back or wait for any sign of danger. Instead, I foolishly fell back in time and thought I was still there, about to die. I had meant to hurt the men who had slaughtered my leap, not the one who showed compassion towards us.

"Ivy? Are you alright?"

My eyes turned towards the voice and it was Prince Gordon asking, as if he wasn't in pain. I started towards him, but the enforcers instantly started yelling at me and pointing their weapons in my direction. I ended up curled as closely to the foliage behind me, my ears flattened against my skull, tail twitching, as I watched them.

Prince Gordon took note of this and frowned before saying, "Leave, all of you. I will be fine without your assistance. Make sure everyone in the village is taken care of." The enforcers were hesitant, but they all left, throwing glances back at the two of us.

"Come here, dear. I will not cause you harm," He said, his voice soft as if that was what I was afraid of. I didn't fear for my safety, but for his. I didn't want to hurt him when my emotions were still awry.

But he continued to coax me over, beckoning me over with his free hand.

I crawled over to him, my ears still flat and my tail tucked in between my legs. I finally made my way to him and he lifted my chin, his soft green eyes on my own.

I could see worry stirring within them, along with anger. Was he angry at me for attacking him? He had every right to be.

"I remember specifically telling you to stay within the castle, Ivy. Why did you disobey me, hm?" he asked firmly, and I responded by moving my chin from his hand and rubbing my head along it, desiring comfort.

He understood immediately and ran his hand along my fur, his fingers travelling a hidden path on my back before making their way back to my head and starting over. It may have not seemed like much to him, but his touch comforted me and kept me from shutting down once again, escaping reality. He was what kept me here, away from the village and leap within my mind.

It should have been the other way around. I should've been comforting my päästja, whom I'd harmed, and asking him if he was okay. I wasn't the one who was supposed to be comforted, yet that's exactly what was happening.

He suddenly pulled away and I started to protest, but he spoke. "Perhaps we should get you clothed before the others come here. I think it would be best if you could explain to me what happened," he said and I watched as Prince Gordon began taking off his suit jacket as he stood up.

Then he began unbuttoning the soft green collared shirt and I found myself abruptly turning around, looking at the ground. I was sure if I were human, I would've blushed. I knew if I continued looking at Prince Gordon, it would only result in trouble.

The shirt was placed on the ground next to me and I had to keep myself from looking at the body that belonged to the hand. "Put this on, dear; I will give you as much privacy as I can," he said before I heard his footsteps descend.

I turned around to see he'd put back on the suit jacket and had his back to me, still holding the enforcer's jacket to his face. I shifted and within moments I grabbed the shirt and put it on, noting that it ended past my knees and that the sleeves were much too big.

Prince Gordon's scent enveloped me, something I knew would get me in trouble later with Kai. But I had to apologize to Prince Gordon to make sure that he was okay and knew that I hadn't harmed him with purpose.

I walked over to Prince Gordon once the shirt was buttoned up and touched his arm lightly. He turned around, startled before giving me a smile. However, the smile was gone within seconds when the pain from his cheek interrupted it.

"I'm so sorry, päästja. I thought I was back home and that you were someone else. I wouldn't have harmed you—" I babbled, all of it rushing out at once, but he pressed a finger to my lips, cutting off my words.

"I am fine, Ivy, but it is you I am worried about. Were you hurt at all? The second I heard about—" he started but I hushed him, running my hand along his cheek.

"I'm not the one who was hurt; you are. I'm fine, you see? Your heart is much too ilus for this world. You should be worrying about yourself, not me," I said softly, my hand still on his cheek.

He suddenly placed his hand on mine, the warmth from it heating my own. "I find myself worrying about you more than I should," he said quietly, almost as if it was to himself.

I stood on my toes and pressed my nose against his, a sign of affection for my kind. His eyes closed as he leaned his head toward mine, taking in the moment like I was.

I ran my nose along his, my own eyes fluttering close against their will in the tender moment. I felt his soft laugh skim my skin at the movement before his hand ran along my jaw, tracing it.

"Ivy?"

The moment was shattered before anything else could happen by a familiar voice in the distance. I found myself pulling away from Prince Gordon, aware of how close we were. I suddenly wasn't able to meet his eyes as he cleared his throat and placed some more distance between us.

"Ivy!"

I could finally see Kai, who began running towards me the moment he saw me. My feet began taking me to him, slowly at first before they ran also, eager to be closer to him. Within seconds I was being crushed against Kai's chest as his arms held me, his lips whispering sweet words to me in our native tongue.

I allowed his words to create an invisible blanket around me, stopping the goosebumps and calming my irrational fears. He was okay, alive and okay. That was all that mattered.

"Don't you ever do that again," I whispered, my voice muffled by his shirt.

"I'm fine, südame, and so are you. We're both fine and we should be grateful for that," he murmured, pressing his lips to my hair and squeezing me gently.

And I was extremely grateful that we were both completely fine, neither of us harmed. My hands were skimming Kai's body, looking for wounds and fortunately not finding any. He was unharmed despite the fact that he'd ignored me and stormed into the burning village.

My mind began remembering that he had left me, despite my pleading, and I pulled away, frowning with my arms crossed. "I told you not to leave, yet you still left!" I snapped, and Kai sighed, about to answer, but then his eyes skimmed me and he tensed.

The muscles in him seemed to coil together, bunching like the thick body of an impatient snake, waiting for the moment to strike. His jaw clenched and his nostrils flared, as if that would fix everything. The worst was the storm building in his eyes, fueled by the hidden hurt.

"What the hell are you wearing?" he asked simply, yet the tone still sent shivers through me.

"Imtleja, I needed something to wear. Would you have preferred me prancing around Prince Gordon naked?" I asked softly, sure to keep my voice low. I didn't want to risk another argument, not right now.

"Why couldn't you have waited until I came back to shift?" he asked, completely ignoring my words.

I huffed at him, knowing this wasn't going to end well no matter what I said or did. "I needed to—" but I paused, blushing when Kai began taking off his own shirt, causing me to turn away. I could see that the enforcers were watching, along with Prince Gordon, all as confused as myself.

"What are you doing?" I asked Kai angrily, unable to meet the eyes of the others when I knew Kai was going to be shirtless behind me.

Kai turned me around and handed me his shirt, pointing to the group of trees and other foliage I had been cowering behind earlier. "Change," he said bluntly and when I opened my mouth, he continued, "You change or this isn't going to end well for either me or Prince Gordon."

"Rumal lumeleopard," I snapped, storming over to the trees, angry at him. One day I would tell him no and he would attempt to hurt Prince Gordon.

Whether Kai reached Prince Gordon or not, he would end up dead, yet he didn't seem to care about that as long as I was his.

I changed into Kai's shirt and walked past him with ease, ignoring his low growl. He should trust me for once, and perhaps I wouldn't feel anger and frustration towards him.

I found my way to Prince Gordon, smiling as I handed him his shirt. "Thank you, päästja. Can we go back now?" I asked lightly, not letting my anger lash itself at him.

His eyes flickered as he looked behind me before landing on mine once again. "Of course, lead the way, Martin," he said, and Martin did exactly as told.

We found our way back to the palace, Kai straying behind me, but not too far. I stayed behind Prince Gordon who attempted small talk with both Kai and me. However, Kai would give him snide replies or simply growl at him, causing Prince Gordon to stop talking to him altogether. He'd attempted to try talking to me, but only to gain the same result from Kai.

When we arrived at the palace, Prince Gordon went to the hospital wing, where they took care of his face. We were later called into his office where he and Martin were waiting. Martin looked disgusted as usual, and Prince Gordon's cheek was covered with gauze.

"Perhaps I don't have to do anything. It looks like you can take care of him yourself," Kai murmured a little too loudly and I smacked his chest, frowning.

"I'm sorry—" But Prince Gordon quickly waved me off.

"You have supplied me with enough apologies to last a lifetime, Ivy. It does not hurt as much as it may appear," he said, glancing at me with a reassuring look before glancing at something on his desk.

"Martin," he said simply, causing Martin to clear his throat and began speaking.

"Someone here must have heard that the two of you were planning to make a visit to the village. The village was attacked by a group of werewolves. We thought it was at first because of recent riots caused by events at Prince Kendall's palace, but evidence shows otherwise," Martin said, trying to keep his voice neutral. I could still hear the hatred in his voice, the blame, as my heart dropped.

"We didn't know, Ivy," Kai said quietly behind me, as if that would make it better.

"You mean people died today because of us? Again?" I asked, my voice cracking. For a second time, Kai and I should've been dead with the others.

Martin was more than able to answer my question, venom in his voice. "Yes, they died because of you."

[päästja - savior]

[ilus - beautiful]

[südame - my heart]

[imtleja - admirer]

[rumal lumeleopard - foolish snow leopard]