Chapter 404 – An Angry King

“Oh, Ella,” Cora sighs, her shoulders slumping as she sees my reaction. She strides over to me and hugs me tightly. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs into my hair. “I shouldn’t have said it like that.”

“No,” I sniff. “You’re right—I should have listened.”

“It’s okay. You did so well,” Cora says, releasing me and turning me toward the sleeping girl. “She wasn’t going to make it, Ella,” Cora whispers. “Not even a few more days, maybe not even through the night. And look at her now.”

Tears stream down my cheeks. “She’s perfect,” I murmur, and Cora nods.

“So, you did a good thing,” she sighs, wiping my tears. “But we still have work to do. All right?”

“Okay,” I say, nodding and looking around the room. “Who’s next?”

“A little boy,” she says, looking down at her clipboard. “Named Philip.”

“A sweet little boy!” I gasp, burying my face in my hands and crying again, thinking of my own baby and the possibility of him getting sick.

“Ella,” Cora sighs. “We are not going to get through this if you keep crying all the time.”

“I can’t help it,” I sniff, wiping my tears. “Do you think…if these kids don’t have a home, Sinclair will…”

“If you go home tonight and ask Sinclair to adopt all these kids,” she says slowly, raising her eyebrows and shaking her head, a smile playing on her lips, “he’s going to flip, Ella.”

“But—”

“Move on, kid!” she laughs, giving me a gentle push. “Let’s go help Philip!”

“Philip,” I say, taking a deep breath, trying to quell my maternal urge to save every child. We don’t have far to go, but as we walk, I take my baby, Rafe, from Conner’s arms, knowing I’ll have to give him back soon.

“What do you think, baby?” I murmur to Rafe, watching him sleep. Warmth chases away my sadness as I look at his perfect little face. “Should we bring home about a dozen new orphan siblings for you today? Do you think Daddy will be mad?”

Conner drops Cora off first, then drives us back to the palace. To my disappointment, I’m convinced not to bring any children home tonight. It’s just Rafe and me in the car with Conner. He surprises me by driving to the back of the palace and opening a wide black door with a button on the car.

“Oh,” I say, leaning forward. “So there is a garage…”

Conner laughs and confirms my suspicions. As he parks, I place a hand on his shoulder. “You did really well today, Conner,” I say softly.

“Thank you, Luna,” he says, smiling. “You should…”

“I should what?” he asks.

“Well, I know you’re part of the military,” I say, twisting my fingers anxiously, “and I know you probably have ambitions there, but…if you’d like to be part of my team, even just for now, and help me continue this work, we’d be happy to have you.”

I smile, hoping he’ll consider it. “I’ll think about it, Luna,” he says, meeting my eyes with a genuine smile. “I promise I will.” We nod and get out of the car. I unstrap the baby, leaving his car seat.

Conner leads me through the palace to an elevator. He presses a button and swipes a card. We arrive on the second floor, the hallway where my rooms are.

“Oh,” I say, eyebrows raised. “Well, that’s terribly convenient, isn’t it?”

“Only the best for our Queen,” Conner says, gesturing for me to exit. I smile, but frown when he remains in the elevator. “You aren’t coming?”

“Nah,” he says, smiling. “I’ve got to get back to the barracks, Luna. Need some rest.”

I roll my eyes. Of course. What was I thinking? I wave goodbye and wish him a good night’s sleep. I’ll have to give my report to Sinclair myself.

But still. I can handle that, right? But when I open the door to our suite, I see Sinclair is angry. Frowning, I close the door, looking toward him at his desk.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Ella,” Sinclair snaps, striding toward me. “You were gone all day—and while I don’t care about that, you didn’t answer your phone!”

“My phone,” I say, frowning. I hand him Rafe. “I don’t think I even brought it.”

“Yes,” Sinclair growls, lifting Rafe to his shoulder. “I realized you left your phone behind after panicking for three hours.”

“Why didn’t you just contact Conner?”

“I did!”

“Well then what’s the problem?” I ask, exhausted and crossing my arms.

“The problem,” he growls, kissing Rafe. “Is that I was hesitant about you even going to the Refugee Center, let alone staying there all day—”

“Well, we didn’t go to the Center all day,” I murmur, heading to our closet. “We went to the Wolf Camp almost immediately.”

“WHAT!” I turn to glare at him. “I don’t know why you’re freaking out, Dominic,” I snap. “We were totally fine, and—”

“It’s incredibly dangerous in those camps,” Sinclair says, looming over me. “I don’t want you and Rafe there where anything could happen—”

“Too bad,” I say, stubbornly shaking my head. “Because we’re going back tomorrow. Actually, not back—we’re going to the Human Camp.”

Sinclair’s face turns a shade of red I’ve never seen before. I take a step back. I’ve never pushed him this far.