Filed to story: The Rejected Werewolf Princess (Camilla & Tyson) by Didi Adeyemi >>
Ryker quietly exited my room and I slid to the floor with my head buried in my legs. I allowed myself the luxury of five minutes to mourn whatever had just happened before I forced myself to rise. I am the princess and I have work to do. I do not have the liberty to cry over a man, much less a man who cheated.
As I pushed to my feet, the maids appeared with warm water for a bath and once I was cleaned, I settled for one of my more extravagant dresses. A part of me hoped I would be able to hide all my sorrows with the dress. As soon as I stepped out of my room, Audrey was already stumbling towards my door while rubbing her eyes.
I picked up my daughter and went to clean her up. By the time she was finally awake, she wanted to wear a dress just like mine and that is how Audrey and I ended up down the stairs in frilly light pink dresses adorned with jewels and embroidery. When we got to the dining room, mother raised a brow.
For the first time ever, someone had out dressed her and she raised her glass to me in a sort of toast. Christine however was sending me curious looks as if she was worried about me and I tried my best to avoid her gaze because I know her and she can undo me with one look.
Mother was called out of the dining room and as soon as the door shut behind her, Christine leaned over to me and whispered.
“What’s with the dress?” she asked and I shrugged. “Come on, I know you better than that.
“Audrey wanted to match.”
“You have a million pink dresses that match, why this one?”
“It’s pretty,” I deadpanned, “Do I need any other reason to pick a dress other than its beauty?”
“Camilla,” she began but I cut her off.
“I really don’t want to talk about it right now.” She raised her hands in mock surrender. “Will you be able to watch Audrey when she is with Ryker? I can’t be there today.”
“Is everything okay?”.
“Yes,” I assured her, “I just want to go into town and see what I can do.”
She looked like she didn’t believe me but she let out a sigh and nodded. This is one of the reasons I am most grateful for Christine. She will never push unless it is absolutely necessary and she is always there for me to count on even when I cannot count on myself.
After breakfast, I passed by Ryker in the halls and I could tell he wanted to speak to me but I pointedly ignored him and made my way out of the palace and towards the gardens. Only Steven was following me because he is one of four guards permitted to enter the gardens.
I sat on my heels on the ground and Steven stayed by the entrance to give me the semblance of privacy that I so craved while I allowed my mind wander. I couldn’t help but go back to last night’s actions with Ryker I knew I should regret them but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. In fact, I wanted to do it over and over again.
It made me feel icky on the inside because I should know better. I should be setting a good example for my daughter that she should never let a man toss her around but here I am running back into bed with a man who cheated on me and got another woman pregnant although he denies that it ever happened.
Some illogical part of my mind hoped that he was telling the truth because the fact of the matter is that I never stopped loving Ryker.
It was practically impossible for me to. I tried my best to get his memories out of my head but it was like he was cemented in there. When Audrey came along it got worse because she reminded me so much of him. She acts like him, she has his eyes and sometimes when I look at her, all I see is her father.
I buried my head into my palms as I thought of what I could possibly do about the entire situation.
It is so sticky and tangled like a spider’s web and I don’t even know where I stay in this. I don’t know why he didn’t come with Lauren or his child with her. I would have expected him to do that honestly but maybe he did it out of respect for me.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t hear the footsteps in the garden until a shadow fell directly over me. I looked up and saw Tyson standing there in all his glory with an unreadable expression on his face. I was on my knees so he was towering over me and instead of giving him the pleasure of thinking it had an effect, I simply sat back on my feels and looked up at him with pure boredom.
I could tell it grated on his nerves because I saw his jaw tick but instead of lashing out, he reached behind him and brought out a bouquet of wild flowers.
“These are for you,” he said as he handed them over to me and I stared at his outstretched hands as if they were poisoned. “I promise you, they aren’t poisoned.”
I reluctantly reached out and took them from him and I placed them on the ground next to me. I took it only out of courtesy and not because I plan to keep it. If anything, I want Tyson out of here as soon as possible.
“If that is all you can leave,” I said simply. “You know that you are not supposed to be here.”
“I wanted to speak to you personally,” he took a seat on the grass which I found shocking. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior over the past few days. I overreacted and I am sorry for the outbursts.
It was very undignified of me.”
“What do you want Tyson?” I asked because I know Tyson would never apologize unless he has ulterior motives. I would rather deal with his straightforwardness than deal with a pretense of affection or remorse.
“Audrey is not my child, is she?”
“No, she is not. Why would you think she is and why would you think that I would have kept any child of yours?” he opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. “You m ay have forgotten Tyson, but I have not. Tell me what you are really here for or I will call the guards and have you jailed for trespa ssing.
I could see the shock on his face that I was speaking back to him and something else crossed his face but he was too covered by shadows for me to realize. Finally, he smiled and sighed deeply.
“I wanted to apologize Camilla and I wanted to tell you that I want you back.”
I scoffed, “If that is all, then it shouldn’t be a problem.” I stood to my feet. “You don’t have to wait long for an answer, it is no.”