51 Chapter 51 - Leave

Faun felt his heart sink even lower. They were here for Declan.

Was it because he had sheltered a hybrid?

He didn't reply though, keeping his head tucked in his knees.

Earlier, he couldn't wait for Declan to get here, but now he was wishing that Declan wouldn't come.

What would he do with himself if Declan got hurt or taken away?

Ash stepped forward at the lack of response from the hybrid.

They didn't have a lot of time to spend here in some isolated cottage deep in the woods, chatting with a fox hybrid.

He grabbed a handful of Faun's hair, ignoring his sounds of pain.

"Ooh! he's cute…" He quipped as soon as he could see his face.

"Focus, Ash." His partner muttered dryly.

"Right, right." Ash agreed, shaking his head slightly.

Cade was right, they didn't have time to waste. It might have just been a fluke, and the hybrid had no idea of who they were talking about.

He lifted the hybrid by the hold on his hair, shaking him slightly.

Faun winced from the pain, instinctively grabbing onto the werewolf's hand to try to relieve the force of his harsh grip.

He had no plans of telling them where Declan was or anything at all about him. If they were going to kill him or take him away, he hoped that they would hurry it up before Declan got back.

"Where's Declan?" Ash repeated, shaking him harder.

Faun's feet dangled above the floor, tears gathering in his eyes from the pain but he kept his mouth shut, keeping his eyes down.

Ash was starting to get impatient; he shook him even harder, holding his face up tightly with his free hand.

"Come on, I don't have all day." He gritted out, digging his fingers into Faun's face.

He was not a big fan of stepping on people weaker than him but he had no qualms shaking down the hybrid to get his answer, not to mention that they were running out of time.

Declan ran through the front door without stopping, anger coalescing in his eyes at the sight of the broken door.

He went straight for his bedroom, barely processing the two out of place but familiar scents in his rage.

He took one look in the room and found one of them holding Faun roughly and snapped.

Neither Ash nor Cade noticed Declan's appearance; one moment they were questioning the fox hybrid and the next moment, Ash was on the ground howling in pain.

Declan had a foot on the hand he had been using to grab Faun's hair, crushing the appendage to the ground, Faun held protectively in his arms.

Cade took one look at Declan and blanched, dropping down to the ground on one knee, half in awe, half in disbelief.

"Your Highness." He muttered reverently, his head bowed.

Ash had long gone quiet, staring up at Declan in awed horror.

Recognition clicked in Declan's dead grey eyes. He stepped off Ash's hand, turning around.

"Leave." He ordered coldly, practically carrying a shivering Faun.

Ash had already recovered, joining Cade to kneel. "But…" He started to protest.

Declan took a deep breath, he should have been more cautious. He let himself get sloppy and Faun paid for it.

"Just wait outside." He corrected himself.

There was no use trying to run any longer; he would have gone back eventually, this was just the worst possible time that they could have chosen to show up.

They quietly obeyed and Declan sat on the bed, cradling Faun in his arms.

He was tense for entirely different reasons now, he quietly stared down at Faun, at a loss for what to say.

His personal bodyguards showing up to the cottage wasn't how today was supposed to end.

Faun clung tightly to Declan because he could do little else, his face buried in his chest as the trembles slowly stopped.

At first he had been so overwhelmed by Declan showing up to realise that everything was wrong.

Werewolves wouldn't treat a random human like that, or any human at all. They had called Declan 'Your Highness'.

The more he thought about it, the colder he got. How hadn't he figured it out though?

Declan didn't smell no different from a human, did he mask his smell somehow?

If Declan was werewolf royalty then he would be better off letting the two other men stop his beating heart. This was a case of picking the devil himself over two lesser demons.

"Faun?" Declan said softly, wincing when Faun flinched.

Honestly, he expected worse. He was basically the top predator of hybrids, it was instinct for them to be terrified of werewolves at this point.

There was nothing to be done about that now, he had no plans to let Faun go. Not just because he would just be hunted down if he did but also because he was his mate, that was the end of the argument.

If he had already been located, it meant that a slew of Royal guards were on their way to the cottage already, it was about to get noisy.

"Sleep, Faun." He urged him quietly, a old habit.

There was no escaping his past; it was nice to imagine a future of them living peacefully in the cottage, their worries no greater than the next picnic.

Faun sniffed, maybe this was all a bad dream, and if he slept and woke up, it would be all gone.

His logic had too many flaws and holes but he clung onto it to keep his last shred of sanity.

Declan was relieved and a bit sad when Faun's breathing deepened, letting out a sigh.

Fortunately, he got several precious minutes of quiet before Ash tentatively stepped in, brandishing a cell phone.

"King Ivan wants to speak with you." He waved the phone, his injured hand bandaged up.

Declan tongued the inside of his cheek. "Fine." He agreed grudgingly.

Supporting Faun's sleeping form with a single hand, he scratched the back of his neck with his sharp nails.

The spot where he broke open his skin glowed a fiery gold before dissipating and he could feel the shackles on his wolf falling away.

His eyes seemed to lighten, glowing a soft gold before cooling down to a silver grey shade.

"Hello, father."