The Royal Beta

Ch. 24 - Dante

I'm really sorry that my update schedule has toned back a bit. As I've posted on my wall, I just started my internship so that I can graduate from college. I try to write as much as I can, but I'm a bit busy. I'll try to update AT LEAST once a week.

Thank you for still reading and for bearing with me.

Lots of love,

Charlie

Chapter 24 – Dante

To say Dante was conflicted with watching Emma go, was an understatement. Everything about it seemed wrong; her going away, without him; her travelling through the woods when they were having trouble with rogues; another male accompanying her (regardless of if said male was a blood-relative); her going to another territory with many unmated males and Dante unable to stake his claim if needed (no matter that she was already marked and mated). But most of all, Dante began to wonder why Emma had felt the need to leave now. Did she not want to be with her sister when they were pretty sure she was a target of the disgraced families?

He had been too devastated with the news of her leaving, that he had not been able to properly analyse the situation. And how convenient that he would not be able to mindlink her to confront her about it! A little too convenient if you asked him. But he trusted her, did he not? She wouldn't have left if it wasn't important. And so he would trust on her judgement, while trying not to worry; but who was he kidding? He'd always worry about her.

And so the inner battle he was having, dragged on. He had to fight the need to follow her and drag her back—forcefully if he had to. It went against his primal instinct not to hold her right beside him.

So instead of seeing whether it was the human or the beast in him that held the upper hand, Dante went inside in search of something to distract him. Unfortunately, most of the wolves were still asleep. King Geoffrey probably had something for Dante to do, but he was without a doubt with queen Aryana, and Dante wasn't about to disturb them unnecessarily. Surely there were other things that would prevent Dante's mind from wandering back to following his mate and bringing her home safely?

In the end Dante opted for the one thing that up until now always had managed to calm him down. Training. He would push his body to its limits so that he'd be too tired to move; too tired to talk; too tired to think; too tired to do anything but let his dreams consume him, even if the day was only just beginning. Perhaps once he would come to after his slumber, his urge to hold his mate captive would have subsided. But he wasn't fooling anyone. The urge would never completely disappear, if anything, it would probably only be getting worse.

Dante ran his hand through his hair and decided to give it a shot. Training was always beneficial, if not for his mental state, then for his physical endurance.

Though not surprised (seeing as it was early in the morning) Dante felt relieved to find the gym void of any other wolves; he was not in the mood for company, unless, you know, it was Emma who had changed her mind and had chosen to stay home after all.

Sadly, he had no such luck. Glad he didn't have to deal with any males trying to compete in testosterone-levels, Dante got to work.

It was hitting nine a.m. and Dante had been training for about three hours at that point, when the first Lunar Guardians warriors showed up for their daily training session. To Dante, that was a perfect time to stop. He still was not in the mood for company—especially of males he didn't know, because it made the animal in him search for, and demand respect. So wisely, Dante retreated to his sleeping quarters to take a long shower.

How was Emma doing? He wondered while squirting some shampoo on his hand. Would she and Roman still be safe? He rubbed his hands together to divide the shampoo to both hands. Could rogues have followed them? He brought his hands to his hair. Perhaps he should have insisted on coming along with her. What if Roman could not ensure Emma's safety? He started to massage the shampoo into his hair and scalp. Hmm, that felt nice. But it'd feel even better if Emma was doing it. He rinsed his hands under the jet. Maybe he should just follow Emma anyway, to make sure she'd arrive safe at Woodland. Dante took a step forward so he was standing under the jet. He closed his eyes while rinsing his hair. A groan left his throat. The training had obviously done nothing to take Emma off his mind.