The Royal Beta

Ch. 25 - Dante

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Chapter 25 – Dante

She was still all right. She was doing okay. He did not need to worry. Those were the words he'd gotten back from Emma when Isabelle had spoken with Roman through their mindlink. Dante punched the punching bag in front of him. He was frustrated. Emma did not sugar coat it at all that she did not wish to speak with him. He had given Isabelle questions to ask Emma and she'd only give short answers in return. "I'm fine." "Haven't got hurt." "Don't worry." And when he had told her he loved her he got an empty "me too" in return. It was messing with his head.

The beast in him – and the human too – did not appreciate her ignorance to his feelings at all. But Dante tried not to dwell on that small detail, instead he focused on the fact that she was still alive and well. For now, that had to be enough.

Jackson came to join Dante in training. The two males didn't speak much, they worked out in silence. Jackson probably sensed that his Beta was not in the mood for small talk – or any talk for that matter – and therefore did not bother him with such. Dante appreciated it and concentrated on what he was doing rather than on who else was present – or who wasn't.

"Jackson, Dante," King Geoffrey called through the gym. "I need you to take the next guard shift." Dante inclined his head in acknowledgement and saw Jackson follow his example. "Get cleaned up and come to my sleeping quarters." And with those parting words, king Geoffrey went back to his waiting mate upstairs.

Dante turned to Jackson who was awaiting his next orders. "Guess we better get cleaned up, then."

A week passed and Dante found himself busy with guarding the queen who seemed to want to keep him distracted from Emma being MIA. She offered him comfort, talking about her and Emma when they were little. Dante loved hearing stories about his mate. There was a lot Emma had not yet shared with him. But then again, they hadn't known each other all that long either. When he was not guarding queen Aryana, he was having a conference call with Derek trying to figure out what the Blood Wolf's next move would be. So far, she had yet to show herself.

In this week, Emma had not once asked her brother to send a message to him by mindlinking Isabelle or anyone else for that matter. Whatever little communication they had, was always initiated by Dante himself. It did nothing for his Separation Fever. The beast in him becoming more restless with every second she was still not with him.

Pedro had become more hostile towards the royal group, distancing himself more and more. He did what he was told to do, showed up for training, but nothing more than that. King Geoffrey asked Dante to keep a close eye on Pedro whenever he could. It wasn't ideal, but Dante and king Geoffrey both felt like Pedro had to be shadowed around the clock. With these threatening circumstances, they just couldn't take the risk of him going rogue on them and giving out information about their whereabouts left and right.

Pedro didn't do much exciting, though. He usually just retreated to his sleeping quarters, either that or he went to roam around in the city. Yet he never spoke to anyone. He never stopped somewhere for more than a couple of minutes. His life was rather boring, if Dante was honest.

Nothing suspicious or fishy seemed to be going on with the old fart, so after a few days Dante loosened up a bit on stalking the old fart. On Thursday night in the second week of Emma's absence, Dante was scooped up in alpha Samuel's office, bent over the profiles of all registered she-wolves that could possibly be the Blood Wolf he was scanning through their information and eliminated those that did not fit.

"Dante," king Geoffrey spoke when he set foot inside the office. Dante looked up from what he was doing and awaited his king's commands. "Derek called. The rogues are headed toward Woodland now. They've gradually left Royal Pack grounds. We're thinking about relocating back to our home basis."