The Beauty and the Beast (1st book of Fantasy Series)

Chapter 48- Steven's POV

I walked into the castle about thirty minutes later and sighed, my heart breaking again while I pulled the bowtie off of my neck.

Damn, damn, damn, I thought, pursing my lips into a thin line. Why did I do that? Why did I let her go?

'Because you knew it was the right thing to do, Reif,' Steven said softly, and I hummed in agreement while I slowly nodded in confirmation. He paused and cleared his throat, growing serious. 'Is she still here?'

I took a deep breath and took in all of the scents around me, and all I could smell were traces of her and not her. 'No,' I said solemnly and crumbled the bowtie in my hand, my heart breaking. 'She isn't here.'

'What about her cousin?' Steven asked. 'Is he still here?'

I sighed and took another deep breath, again, taking in all of the scents around me and smelled her cousin still in the palace along with something else, something that I didn't quite expect but was grateful for. 'Yes,' I confirmed. 'He is still here. He can't leave anyway.'

No matter how much he would like to leave...

Guilt blossomed in my chest, and I sighed and shook my head, moving a hand through my fur. 'We need to apologize to him,' I said, and he hummed and mentally nodded. 'He should have been able to leave and not get stuck here like the rest of us.'

This wasn't his pack, and I might have been his king, but I wasn't his Alpha...

His Alpha was from a small pack in the United States that he had been in for years before his Alpha had sent him here to try and talk to us for help because of some Rogue issues that we never took care of for them.

Thankfully, his pack was alive, but I knew that his pack was still small, smaller than most packs we knew about, especially for a place like America.

I sighed and shook my head before I started to walk to where I had smelt Peter, praying that he would talk and not walk past me, ignoring me, even though I knew that I deserved it and much, much worse than what he could offer but couldn't do because of our ranks and his "respect" to the throne.

Peter was on his way down the stairs while I was on the way up, looking sad and forlorn with something surprising by his side.

"Peter," I said, shocked and surprised that he appeared as soon as I thought about him, and Peter stopped and stared at me before he bowed, not looking me in the eyes.

"Your Majesty," he said and lifted his head before he cleared his throat and grew serious. "How may I help you?"

I bit back a small sigh and shook my head. "First off, I want to say that I am sorry," I said softly before I cleared my throat again. "I'm sorry for everything that I have done to you and hadn't done, and I do wish that I can change the past, but I know that I can't."

Peter offered me a small smile and before he slowly nodded, and relief filled his eyes while he stared at me. "It's ok, Your Majesty," he said and tucked his hands behind his back. "That's all in the past, and I forgive you."

I bit back a small sigh of relief and slowly nodded. "Has she left?" I asked, changing the subject, back to what was going on, and Peter frowned and nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said and nodded again. He sighed and moved a hand through his fur, and pain flashed through his eyes. "She has left. She left Pippa here because she promised that she would be back." He gestured to her dog, and I looked at her before I looked at him.

My heart grew and became filled with hope, but I couldn't help but try to dampen the hope, especially since I had no idea if she would have the time to come back from wherever she went.

"She said that she would leave even if her father wouldn't allow her to," he said softly, and I cocked my head and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Really now?" I asked, and he nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said.

"Do you believe her?"

Peter bit back a small chuckle and nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty," he replied. "I believe her. She is stubborn and prideful. If she promises something, then she will keep it." He gestured to Pippa. "Again, she wouldn't have left Pippa if she didn't think that she was going to come back."

'She did take Pippa the first time she left,' Steven said. 'Remember?'

Vaguely, I remembered Pippa around us when the fight happened just almost a week or so ago, and my heart became filled with guilt, especially since she had been injured because of me.

"Do you think she has time?" I asked instead while I cocked my head and studied him, and Peter sighed and shook his head, not meeting my gaze again. "We are running out of time."

"I know, Your Majesty," he said softly before he cleared his throat and shifted on his feet. "Do you know about how much time we have left?" His voice was barely above a whisper when he asked me that, and he submitted as if he didn't want me to be mad at him for asking something like that.

I hesitated before I gestured for him to follow me, and I started to walk to my office with Peter and Pippa following me, not saying a word because I didn't know and didn't want to give him the wrong type of information.

I made it to my office and went to my desk where the crown still sat, and I bit back a small sigh while I sat down and opened the drawer before I pulled the crown out of its hiding spot so that both of us could look at it.

My heart ached when I saw the last pearl was almost black, and I had no idea if she was going to have time until she got to her father and then came back and fell in love with me again.

"Oh..." he said before he cleared his throat and shifted on his feet before he looked at me. "How soon is your birthday, Your Majesty?" Peter asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

I sighed and shook my head, my heart breaking because this meant that we were running out of time. "I think it is the day after tomorrow," I said, honestly while I stared at him with a grave look on my face, and my human silently agreed.

Peter hesitated before he slowly nodded, and a look of pain and sadness filled his eyes. "Oh," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. He cleared his throat and shifted on his feet while he looked at the crown again. "Then I hope she makes it in time."

I chuckled coldly and slowly nodded. "So do, I, Peter," I said and placed the crown back in its place and closed the drawer with an annoyed sigh. "So do I."

But even with her gone and her scent disappearing, I could still feel her near me and knew that she would never leave my side and never leave my heart.

Forever and always...