Chapter 454


    Press E We stayed up all night working and strategizing. A flurry of aids came into the room right


    away as well as several guards, who worked with Sinir to brief him and to begin toe up with a


    n about how to handle the press.


    Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org.


    I trusted my mate to handle that, though, focusing my attention singrly on Sarah when she was


    wheeled into the room on a hospital gurney. Sarah was conscious, but in a great deal of pain, and Cora


    and I moved immediately to her side. Cora asked questions of both the attendant doctor and Sarah


    herself as I handed Rafe to Henry.


    When Cora quickly briefed me that the wounds, as far as she could tell, were nothing that I hadn’t


    handled before, I nodded to her and quickly took Sarah’s hand. “I’d like to heal you, Sarah, if you’ll let


    me,” I said quietly, looking her in the eye.


    Sheughed a little, shaking her head at me. “Go ahead,” she said with an attempt at a grin that


    immediately fell away as she winced, favoring her side where Xander kicked her.


    I exhaled sharply, hating that he put her in pain again, and that I was the cause of it. But, eager to be


    the solution as much as I could, I closed my eyes and concentrated, essing my gift and healing my


    friend.


    The work was done quickly and barely twenty minutester I opened my eyes to see Sarah staring at


    me in awe. ” That’s…incredible,” she said. “I mean, I watched you work on Jessica, but feeling it?”


    “Better?” I asked, and she had justughed, marveling a little.


    Things moved quickly then, with Sinir ncing over at me meaningfully, indicating that he had things


    he wanted to run my way. I nodded to him but turned first to Sarah and Jessica to ensure that they got


    settled. When they hesitated about going back to their rooms tonight Xander had, after all, kidnapped


    them from that space I insisted they take one of the personal rooms in the back of Sinir and my


    personal quarters one of the rooms that we hope to one day fill with our children.


    They had smiled at this idea, wanting to be close, and Cora took Jessica by the hand as Sarah lifted


    herself from the gurney and walked away,pletely free of pain.


    “Wow,” the attendant doctor had said, his eyes wide. “What did you…” “Another time,” I had sighed,


    cing a hand on his shoulder. “We should talk but…another time?” He smiled at me, still a little


    shocked and awed, but he agreed and quietly left the room. I sighed then, and took the baby back from


    Henry before moving to Sinir’s side, ready to face whatever was next.


    We were up until about…three in the morning I guess, preparing press releases and dealing with all the


    details. By the end I had tucked Rafe away into his little crib and fallen into bed exhausted. I had


    always thought it was an exaggeration when people say they fell asleep before their head hit the pillow,


    but as I have absolutely no memory ofying my head down?


    I guess they weren’t exaggerating after all.


    I groan a little as I roll over in bed now and nce at the clock. My groan only deepens when I see that


    it’s only 7 am.


    Four hours of sleep – that’s… Appalling.


    “Morning, little Queen,” I hear my mate rumble beside me and I turn towards him with a frown on my


    face, noting the tablet on hisp.


    “Dominic,” I murmur, working to sit up. “Did you sleep at all!?” “A little,” he says, reaching out a hand to


    stroke over my hair. “I wish you’d slept more. What got you up?” “Anxiety, I guess,” I say, moving


    myself closer to him and nodding towards the tablet. “What are they saying now?” Last night, the news


    had gone pretty wild with everything, ying all kinds of footage from the event me racing across the


    gstones in my wolf’s body, me negotiating with Xander while he pressed a knife to Jessica’s throat,


    me leaping through the air again in my wolf’s form with my teeth bared, me looking wide eyed out into


    the crowd with blood all down my front It had been…a frenzy, honestly, with no one really knowing what


    was going on or how to react. Sinir had been right – a lot of people, particrly humans, were upset


    with what they called the “wanton violence” disyed by wolf kind.


    And while the words were levied at both Xander and at me… Well, the sight of a newly crowned Queen


    covered in a man’s blood while his corpseid at her feet? It wasn’t… great.


    “I think,” Sinir says, a smile on his lips, “you’re going to be…pleasantly surprised.” He passes the


    tablet to me.


    “What?” I frown at him, confused, but he nods to the tablet and I look down at it.


    The baby fusses a little, passing a little pulse of need down the bond and I hesitate but Sinir gets up,


    heading toward Rafe’s crib and letting me focus.


    So, I sigh and concentrate, frowning as I read the headline at the top of the page.


    A Queen for the People, it reads. My frown deepens.


    What? What is this?My eyes move down a little and I blink in surprise to see that I recognize the byline:


    the article is written by Tempest Bowers, the woman I metst night, whose daughters just wanted


    some chocte… My mouth falls open a little as I begin to read because… The article, as a whole, is a


    rather stunning defense of my actionsst night.


    And Tempest?


    She’s done her homework.


    My eyes fly over the tablet, seeing all the details of my life inlyid out for the readers, wondering


    how the hell Tempest figured all this out and further how she got it all done by seven in the morning.


    But as I continue to read, and see the number of people that she interviewed… I realize that Tempest?


    She’s probably been working on this for a long time.


    “Cleverdy,” I murmur, shaking my head as I read through the article. She starts by addressing the


    violence ofst night, with all of the details about Xander’s death at my hands, not shying away from


    any of it. Indeed, Ie away in the first paragraphs looking…well, precisely as we thought humans


    might see me: a cold-blooded murderer, over-reacting to a situation that deserved more diplomacy.


    But then Tempest continues to spin out the story, including all the details of how Xander knew I was his


    niece but abandoned me to be raised in an orphanage, only to find me yearster and vite my body


    and my privacy by having me impregnated with the sperm of his choice. She continues to focus on


    Xander only for a few short paragraphs, detailing his politics and his forced subjection of Sarah, and


    Jessica, and their mother.


    But then, to my surprise, the story turns again to me. It’s a love story, really, of how Sinir and I found


    each other despite Xander’s ns and fell in love, how hard we worked to rid this nation of Damon –


    who honestly wouldn’t have been much better than Xander himself. She even tells of Xander’s attempt


    to kidnap Rafe, and then all the work I did in the refugee camps to help people who really need me.


    There are some guesses in there, and hints, about the magic I wield, which was never precisely a


    secret even if it’s notmon knowledge. I smirk to see how well she’s begun to guess at what,


    precisely, I am able to do with my powers.


    She doesn’t go so far as to say I’m a magical all-healing Queen, but she does detail the incredible


    number of people – especially children – who walked away from the refugee camps entirely healed of


    dreadful injuries and diseases.


    In the end, Tempest returns to the question of what I didst night, and carefully asks the reader to


    reconsider the situation. While it may appear at first nce as if a woman brutally murdered an old


    man, Tempest ends by asking: “what side, really, would have your Queen take? I, for one, might prefer


    a fierce Queen who doesn’t wait to let bureaucracy handle serial abusers who attempt to kidnap little


    girls, but who instead tears their throats out and ends the issue there. E Sinir isn’t a politician,


    she’s a woman who fights for her people, and heals them too. At least, those who deserve it.” “Damn,” I


    say, lowering the tablet to myp and looking up at Sinir, who smirks down at me with the baby in his


    arms. I reach for Rafe, knowing he needs to be fed. “I mean, are people… reading this? Do they


    believe her?” “Shared on social media over a million times in the hour since it’s been published,”


    Sinir says, happily handing the baby to me. I smile down at Rafe, tugging up my shirt and preparing


    to feed him, but Sinir ces my a soft hand beneath my chin. I look up at him.


    “People are seeing you, E, for what you truly are,” he says quietly. “I’m d for that, and grateful. But


    I knew, eventually, that they would.” I smile up at him, my eyes shining a bit with my tears. “Do you


    really think so?” I ask, shaking my head, marveling a bit.


    Slowly, he nods, a grin taking over his face. “Thanks to Tempest Bowers, they’re seeing it faster than I


    thought they might.” He stands up, running a hand through his hair. “She really helped us out here, with


    this article.” Iugh a little, turning my attention back to Rafe when he gives a hungry little squeak of


    protest. I quickly get him started, sighing a little when I feel himtch.


    Then, I look back up at my mate.


    “Well? What do you send the woman who has single-handedly saved your reputation?” I ask, grinning


    at him. ” Like, a fruit basket?”