The Beast And The Blessed

Sixty-Four: Joselin

Joselin's P.O.V.

A tired and grumpy Tobias greeted me the next morning. It was wise for everyone to stay out of his way, which meant they also stayed out of mine. It was amazing.

It helped that everyone was scared of him too. Cyrus practically shook like a leaf when Tobias lunged at him for bumping into me. Still, I had a feeling the shaking was more due to Cyrus's exhaustion and excessive caffeine intake over the past two days than anything else.

My mate was being even more protective today, and I was ready for this to be over so I could face the next challenge... the possibility of a baby. The more time that passed, the more I opened up to the idea, but I couldn't focus on it until Cora was dealt with.

Natalie insisted that we all leave the conference room after an early morning and head to the dining hall for breakfast, insisting that it would be good for our people if we would all show our faces. They needed to see that Cyrus was okay and that we weren't worried...even though we were.

Aisha and Margot stayed behind with Blanche to keep working. Since they usually ate in the private dining hall anyway, it wouldn't seem odd to the pack that they weren't with us. Once we returned, they would turn in and get some sleep while we took over.

As Cyrus entered the room, the volume dropped drastically. Everyone seemed to want to get a look at him. He forced on a smile and walked with his head held high. Still, the black circles under his eyes and his slow movements gave him away. He was weak, tired, and traumatized.

The room had been cleaned and was back to its former glory after the attack, with no trace of his blood anywhere, whereas it had been absolutely everywhere before. After what Cora did with it, I was sure he wasn't happy that someone had to clean up his blood or could have it again.

I had given him an enchanted necklace, similar to the one Natalie and Killian wore, but it was to prevent someone from controlling him. He hadn't been controlled when she tried to take his powers. She was playing with dark magic and was trying to steal his abilities, not control them. I had little faith that it would do anything for this situation, but he looked relieved to have it.

The pack was no stranger to talking about others, but they at least had enough decency to do it through the pack link and not to the person's face.

Yet as we waited for our plates to be served, the room's tension was almost palpable. Everyone was waiting for a repeat of the other night or a breakdown from the spell caster swaying with exhaustion in his chair.

My stomach had tossed and turned since I had woken up, and my mouth watered with the need for me to empty the already hollow organ. But I had held it down.

few bites in, I felt better, but slow and steady would win the race. Any faster, and I would lose my breakfast in front of the

that Cyrus was eating slower than I was. But after watching him for a moment, I realized that he

a bad person, but because she was annoying. Yet, I still hoped that she would help Cyrus come back from this, even if that meant I had to have

in for one hell of a battle. But she had potentially grown more powerful with Rona's magic, and since she hadn't been able to kill him with it, she

was to her and what each location has in common. We knew that, but I didn't piece it together until now. I thought it was what she got from each place, but she's

feet. All eyes were on me as I bent forward and shoved a few bites of food into my mouth. It

of the room. Tobias was hot on my heels, and I

the conference room doors before me, and I ran through them. Aisha, Blanche, and Margot jumped at the sudden

looking at this all wrong. Cora knows she won't survive if she comes here and tries to take Cyrus or fight us head-on. She used the witch in the mountains with one of Cyrus's things because she didn't know who he was yet. When that failed, and I brought him here for protection, she figured out who he was but knew she couldn't get him out of there unnoticed. She went to Rona to use her as a conduit because she had more power, but Rona wasn't strong enough." I flung my hand toward the map, pausing briefly when I saw Tobias standing with my mostly full breakfast plate in

it slightly with raised eyebrows, silently telling me he wanted me to

train of thought. "She isn't getting anything from these locations, and she isn't setting traps. The one thing these places have in common is a significant event that could be used as a power source. Cora is looking at places of power for a new source to channel Cyrus through. She is looking

there before?" Natalie asked, but both Killian and Aurora

and no one beyond guards came with us when you shifted." Killian told

the guards and the previous king on his travels, even when she didn't join us. He would feed and shelter

play. He hated

was the most beautiful place we had ever seen, and the pull to it was intoxicating. I wanted to both be there and run away from it at the same time. Yet, it never deterred us. We would run inside and play for hours until it was discovered that we had

than any place on Earth. The descendants of the Goddess hadn't even been able to leave

the first of her bloodline to live fully outside the Sanctum and not lose her powers

Sanctum to recharge frequently, and it sounded so

sure of this are you?" Killian asked,

arrogant enough to say one hundred. I could be wrong, and whatever we planned, we needed to be prepared for

our plan." Killian held out the chair for Natalie before taking his

smiled when Tobias did the same for me, placing my plate before me. No one batted an eye when I continued to pick at my food over the