Page 13 of Fake Fae-Ancée

Yeah. Complicated, like getting sidetracked by her scent and kissing her instead of telling her what’s going on and then getting your ass handed to you.

"I don’t care for your personal issues," Taggart grunted. "Officer McKenn hasn't reported in since last night. The only thing we had was your intel that you kept her safe. Then ten hours of radio silence! That's not how this works, Kalinin!"

"Did you get Nox?" I asked back, unimpressed.

"Negative," Taggart said, and I groaned. "The suspect is still on the run. We must expect another attack on McKenn."

I cursed in my native tongue. The chief frowned.

"We're investigating in all directions. If Nox sticks his ugly head out anywhere, he'll be arrested immediately."

I snorted dismissively. "Well, you can try."

Taggart scowled and stabbed his index finger at me. "You recapture McKenn. You get her to safety. I'll take care of Nox."

"Aye, aye, sir," I gritted, giving him a mock salute.

"Freelancer or not, reconsider your attitude."

The chief ended the call and I had to stop myself from crushing the phone in my hands. Damn, this was worse than I’d thought. Shit had hit the fan thoroughly. Nox could reappear at any time. And I was sitting here, useless, thanks to my lack of control.

I massaged my throbbing forehead. My prophecy — the fateful words supposedly chosen for me by Sankta Polina, Mother of All Bears herself — echoed in my head like a spectre.

"She is your queen. She must survive."

My prophecy. My destiny.

And I was about to fuck it up.

Before I let all caution go and let Bear shift after all, I did the sensible thing and dialed another number.

There was a crackle in the line.

"Yuri," a creaky old voice greeted me that sounded like it had been chain smoking for at least three hundred years. In this case, it was actually true. There was also not even a hint of surprise in it. There never was.

"She just ran away," I said, staring at the name on the display.

"Baba"

"I know," the voice said, and I rolled my eyes. Baba always knew everything, of course, probably before it even happened. She was even worse than Gabriel. No idea how she did it.

"What do I do, Auntie?" I hated how helpless and frustrated I sounded. Technically Baba wasn’t my aunt, but she’d always been there as far as I could remember so she might as well have been.

Baba chuckled.

"Isn’t it obvious, little prince? You better run after her."

"You know very well that won't work."

There was a snapping noise, followed by a crackle. She was probably lighting one of her disgusting pipes.

"Here you are, one of the strongest Bears to ever walk the earth. A prince among shifters. A thwarted king, even. And yet, unable to recapture one single little Dark Fae robbed of her powers."

I snorted. "It's not that simple."

The Witch chuckled. I could see her grin in my mind’s eye, all smug, with shiny white fangs.

"I always liked her. She's a good choice for you, little prince. Keeps you on your toes. But you are dumber than a bag of rocks if you still have to ask me what you should do."

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