Unclaimed

Chapter Thirty-Two - Foals and Fouls

Beau

Reading over the letters from the people in the hospital made me sick to my stomach. It took a day and a half to get through at least two thirds and by then I had gotten the full message.

Holding the letters in my hands as I skimmed through them, counting the pages.

Two hundred and thirty-three pages.

First person encounters with Harald and his rogues. Pages and pages of detailed eye witness statements that made my blood boil in rage.

He's let his men, burn down family homes and take mateless women for brides. One letter from a little girl that watched her mother get assaulted by a group of men. The mother barely survived the assault and is being cared for in our hospital. The daughter along with several other children that have been orphaned have my parents company.

The guest houses were fashioned so the kids could stay there while we reached out to family members, in hopes of finding roots for some of them to grab. Most of these kids will probably never know or even remember their parents.

Asking my mother and father to care for them until we figured out something more permanent. But in that moment I think my parents were just happy to see that I needed them for something.

I let the papers fall onto the table with a sigh as I rub my tired eyes. My vision falling into darkness but swirls and patters dancing behind my eyelids. Letting me know how truly exhausted I was.

"Christ." I mutter.

"Morning!" Cassie beams as she strides in through the open front door, seeing me still in my living room looking over the files. "Oh my god, did you read all of those?"

"Yup." I say popping the noun out of my mouth as I give a rueful smile. "Every last page."

"H-How are you...feeling?"

"Does it matter how I'm feeling?" I ask and standing walking over to the kitchen. Deciding to fix myself a cup of coffee before I start the day. But to be fair my day never really ended. I spent most of the night organizing everything and reading through every statement. Cassie dashes over to the living room table and starts cleaning up.

"Cassie, you don't have to do that." I shake my head as I pour the coffee.

"Your place is a mess." She sighs as she slides the papers into place, tapping them against the table. "You need a break, you've been throwing yourself into work even harder than normal ever since the prince left."

"He has his own shit to take care of." I shake my head as I remember sitting back in Judas's head as Odile threw herself at him.

I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm definitely not jealous.

She's just absolutely drop dead gorgeous, a leggy brunette with the hottest English accent, and apparently a long and sordid history with my mate that spans centuries.

I'm almost thankful he couldn't hear me without my pushing. I could hear his thoughts clear as day, if I listened hard enough and allowed myself no distractions, I could listen for as long as I wanted. One night I sat up and listened in on his dreams. Just memories of the day, along with thoughts of me.

Cassie was right. Work was all I had since Judas had left. I had nothing but the sunlight and the fields around me to keep me busy. I didn't want to admit that in the middle of all the chaos my mind was running rampant with thoughts of Judas.

I was struggling. That much was true.

"The King and Queen want to talk to you." Cassie says as she walks over to where I am. "They're waiting outside."