118 Chapter 118 Their Connection To Each Other
གས་ཙ་
“What the hell?!” Alvin howled, wincing as he dabbed at the blood trickling down his scalp. Thankfully, his wolf was already working to heal the wound.
Anna crouched down with an exasperated sigh, picking up the broken pieces of her beloved mug. She tried in vain to fit the shards together, but it was clearly beyond saving. With a frustrated grunt, she tossed the pieces into the trash and then gave Alvin a swift kick in the shin.
“You owe me two mugs now,” she growled, glaring down at him.
“Alright…” Alvin muttered in response, clearly having learned his lesson. Addison, meanwhile, realized she wouldn’t be able to gather any more useful information from the group–everything had descended into chaos after Alvin’s slip.
Still, what had been said lingered in her mind.
It was becoming increasingly clear that Lance shared a deeper connection with her- when she was still the Princess–than anyone had let on. According to Alvin’s gossip, Lance had been assigned as her personal bodyguard, but after she chose to join the Border Patrol Team, he followed suit. That alone spoke volumes.
Perhaps their relationship had gone beyond that of sparring partners… or even beyond the traditional bond between a princess and her guard. And if her speculation was right, it was entirely possible that Lance blamed himself for what happened during her coming–of–age ceremony–when she was abducted by the vampires.
Maybe this was his way of atoning: staying in the same role, in the same place, quietly waiting for her to return.
Like a loyal dog, waiting patiently for the master who never came back.
With this line of thinking, it became easier to understand why Lance was so adamant about preventing any unknown entity from crossing the borders into the Royal Capital. Perhaps it was because he feared a repeat of what had happened before–haunted by the shadow in his heart that kept him awake at night.
Instead of resting through the darkness, reliving the past, Lance chose to take on the night duty, followed by morning shifts, pushing his body to the limit until it finally gave
118 Chapter 118 Their Connection To Each Other
out and he collapsed asleep in the office.
There, amidst the noise and bustle, he could drown out his thoughts with a constant hum–a kind of white noise that helped him sleep. But if he were alone at home, the silence would weigh heavily on him, and the isolation would only invite the nightmares of that terrible night when he failed to protect the princess.
Addison’s speculation was actually right on the mark–Lance did feel deeply responsible for her abduction six years ago. He was supposed to be her personal bodyguard and should always be by her side to protect her, ready to lay down his life before anything happened to her. But instead, he was nowhere to be found when she was taken.
He didn’t even realize she was missing until after the Queen did. Lance only knew something was terribly wrong when he saw the Queen running out of the Royal Palace, chasing after someone, and then he witnessed the vampires carrying the unconscious Addison away.
That moment shattered him. He felt like he had utterly failed in his duty. As punishment, he never joined the Royal Guards as he was meant to; instead, he stayed with the Border Patrol Team, where he was originally assigned to stay only temporarily with Addison until her coming–of–age and coronation as heir apparent.
Though summoned back to his post as a Royal Guard, Lance refused to return. His rightful Alpha King–the one he had sworn to protect–was still missing. So he waited, lingering on the borders, hoping to see, that familiar figure return. He held onto the belief that the Alpha King he was destined to serve was strong enough to find her way back to her pack, to her home.
But year after year, Lance could only wait–and punish himself for failing to protect her. He tortured himself in the only way he knew: by guarding her home fiercely, striving to be the best he could be, so he wouldn’t be ashamed when Addison finally returned. Oh, how much Lance longed to see Addison again–the girl he grew up with, the girl he admired above all others.
Yes, Lance was Addison’s childhood sweetheart–the one she had prayed to the Moon Goddess to be her fated mate for all those years leading up to her coming of age, the day when her wolf, Aurora,/would finally recognize and meet her destined
urora
that day never came. Aurora was sealed, and Addison was cursed.
tner. But
Addison stared at the sleeping Lance with a blank expression, trying to understand his
118 Chapter 118 Their Connection To Each Other
place in her life, his role in her story. Then, as if sensing her gaze, Lance’s eyes slowly opened and locked with hers. They held each other’s gaze for a long moment before fragments of memories began to surface in Addison’s mind.
“Adi… When we grow up, I’ll protect you. And every birthday, I’ll pray to the Moon Goddess to bless me with you as my fated mate… I’ll always stay by your side and never let you go…”
The young Lance’s voice was still innocent and childlike, much like Kyle and Aiden’s, but it made Addison’s heart tremble. A single tear slipped from her eyes without her noticing, a deep sadness washing over her until her eyes reddened. Seeing her like that, Lance’s own heart ached, and he couldn’t tear his gaze away.
He knew the Addison standing before him now was a human male–he couldn’t shift, and unlike werewolves, this Addison carried no wolf scent. He realized then how impossible it was that this was the Addison he had been waiting for.
person could
The Addison standing before him briefly reminded Lance of the Addison he once knew, but then he reminded himself that people could share a name: This never be his Addison–it was just his mind playing cruel tricks on him.
Shaking his head, Lance slowly closed his eyes and let his mind drift back to the good old days, to the vibrant, lively face of the Addison he once knew.
One reason Lance loved to sleep was because, in his dreams, he could relive the days when he was still with Addison. Yet, he also feared the nightmares that haunted him. That’s why he chose to sleep only in lively places–like the office–where the murmur of voices and bustling atmosphere gave him a strange sense of peace. The background noise felt almost like Addison’s own chatter, as she was always lively and talkative in his memories.
But when the world around him grew quiet, all he could recall was the night Addison was abducted–the eerie silence broken only by the Queen’s desperate howl. He would see Addison’s unconscious form drifting farther and farther away from him, a painful memory that never left his mind.
Addison sat quietly at the newly prepared table. It was still relatively clean, with only a few blank sheets of paper and some pens scattered across it. Her mind was avy with thoughts, but she knew she had a duty–to write a report on the rogue attack they had just experienced.
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118 Chapter 118 Their Connection To Each Other
If the rogue ambush was truly connected to the earlier assault on the Midnight River Pack, she needed to understand the reasoning behind it. Why were the rogues targeting them? What did they hope to gain?
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