Page 8 of Their Promise

“You’ve been ignoring our calls and messages for years. We’ve tried to figure out what we could have done to upset you so much, but keep coming up blank. So, can you enlighten me on what caused your sudden avoidance?” He was so calm and poised all the time. In moments like this, it pissed me off. How could he just ask that so bluntly, and as if he wasn’t the one who had ignored me?

My hair glowed brighter and he noticed it, his grip loosening slightly.

Pulling out of his hold, I said, “If you’ll excuse me, Your Highness, I have a message to deliver to my queen. Good night.” Spinning on my heel, I marched the rest of the way to her, and everyone veered out of my path, all knowing what my glowing hair meant.

Mom was laughing at something Great Grandpa Dan had said, but her eyes looked at my hair and then at my face, and she was immediately on her feet. “Sweetheart, why don’t we go outside and get some air?”

“I would like to go home,” I said through clenched teeth. The darkness and anger swirled higher and higher, threatening to overtake me, causing my hair to glow even brighter. My tongue changed into my forked snake’s tongue and I clenched my teeth to keep from hissing.

“What’s going on?” Great Grandpa Dan asked. Ezio stood from his seat between him and Holly.

“Lily,” Kayden called out.

“Mom!” I said urgently, hissing slightly.

Ezio looked at Kayden and then back at me, putting two and two together. He marched towards his son, snarling, and put a hand on his chest to stop him. “What’s going on, Kay?”

Mom put her hand on my shoulder. “Please excuse us,” Mom said with an apologetic smile, “the jet lag has gotten to us. Have a good evening.”

Mason stepped forward with his mouth open, but Mom teleported us to the living room in the house.

“Lily, talk to me,” she whispered softly and put her hands on my arms.

“I’m going to my rock,” I said and headed upstairs to change out of my dress and into sweats and a tank top. Quickly, I went to the barn where a large rock designed to heat to whatever temperature I set it to was installed. My dads had installed it when I first moved in, but the rock and lamp had grown in size as I had.

Shifting into my snake form, I curled up on the warm rock and closed my eyes. Exhaling in relief, I realized that Great Uncle Silverowl was right, I had waited too long between shifts. It felt good to be in snake form.

Plus, the darkness was immediately back down, deep within my soul, slumbering as it should be, when I was in snake form.

Mom peeked her head in a bit later, but left me alone when she confirmed I was fine.

My brother Tony prowled inside in his wolf form, curled up at the foot of the rock, between the door and I, and went to sleep. Even though I was older by five years, he was very protective of me, and he likely felt bad for his part in the earlier incident.

With him nearby, my unease disappeared and I was finally able to sleep.

Chapter

Four

Everyone thankfully didn’t bring up the incident at the party, though I could see they were curious.

Tony and I went to the square of our clan territory where several shops were open with delicious food and handcrafted items for sale.

My first stop was Kieran’s store where he, his mate, and his mate’s other mates baked delicious pastries.

Kieran lifted his eyes when he heard us come in and they widened when they saw me. “Lily! I didn’t realize you were back already.”

“Lily!” Kieran’s mate, Sheila, yelled in excitement and raced towards me to hug me tightly. “You’re back!”

I squeezed her and smiled with a nod. “I am.”

She ran back behind the counter, grabbed a bag, and put a cinnamon roll, chocolate croissant, and two sweet purple yam rolls inside. “Here! Your favorites!”

Gasping in excitement, I grabbed the bag, pulled out a chocolate croissant, and bit into it. It was still warm! “So good!” I moaned. “You can’t find pastries as good as this near my college.I tried a couple and it just made me cry and miss home and your bakery.”

She put a hand to her chest and tears built in her eyes. “That means a lot to hear from you, Princess.”

“Here,” Kieran said and held out a bag for Tony. “I just baked some buttermilk biscuits, since I heard you were home.”

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