Chapter 48

Chapter 48
Hayden Valentine pov. 
She’d changed. Gone was the little girl I thought I’d always have to protect and, in her place, a woman capable of fighting her own battles. Though seeing her still shocked me, I couldn’t be prouder of her. She’d taken what life thew of her and proved she was more than anyone though she’d be. A Beta. My little sister is the Beta of a clan, ranked or unranked, that is pretty damn impressive. She’d done it on her own too. Without anyone’s help she’d climb the ranks and in my opinion, it was far better than having a rank handed to her. 
“I fucked up.” Rancor mutters as I bring the car to a stop in front of our chalet. I snort at his statement, taking off my seatbelt and opening the door but his hand on my arm stops me. “I thought I was doing the right thing for the clan back then.” I sit back in my seat with a sigh, knowing I won’t move until he gets whatever he needs to say off his chest. 
“And now?” I know the answer to the question, but I need him to say it, to prove to me he’s not that much of an idiot. 
“I regret it. She has a dragon.” He sounds almost sincere, but with him, there is always a catch. 
“Do you regret denying her before you waited for her to properly morph or do you regret letting her go at all?” He doesn’t answer right away, stares out the window like this is the first time he’s thought about this question and knowing him, it probably is. 
“Both, I guess. If I knew… do you think she’d forgive me?” I laugh, actually laugh and he doesn’t seem so impressed with my reaction. 
“Dude, you’ve become a friend to me in the last few years and I’m not entirely sure I forgive you for what you did to my sister. She might forgive you; she’s always been a better person than I am in that regard, but don’t think she’ll make the mistake of coming back to you. As soon as the games are over, she’s breaking your bond and we both know it. Don’t make things harder than they need to be.” He looks at me like I’ve just told him there is no gold at the end of the rainbow and it makes me feel a little bad for him. 
“I would just like to talk to her. Explain myself.” He runs a frustrated hand though his hair and I sigh. 
“Listen, Rancor, I get it, well, not completely. I wasn’t the one who denied my Kin, but I know I’d be beyond help if I lost her because of some fucked up mistake I made. Thing is, you have to live with that now. You agreed to stay away from her, if you don’t honor your agreement the council will deal with you, and I won’t stand between you and them. By the looks of it, she’s moved on and trust me, King Hutting didn’t seem like the type of guy to just stand by and watch you take what he already sees as his.” He gives me a sharp glare. 
“She’s not his, she’s mine. She was given to me, and she’ll always be mine.” I clench my jaw, wondering why in the hell I even became friends with this idiot. 
“You didn’t want her. You made your choice; she’s entitled to make hers. If you cause trouble for us, I swear I will resign from my position and while you look for another Queen you can look for a new Vice Leader as well. Don’t test me, Rancor.” I leave the car before I really punch him, hoping he’ll come to his senses and not do the very stupid thing I know he wants to do. Well, if he does, I can always see if Hydra would let me join her clan. 
“Vice Leader, you’re back. Can we go over tomorrow’s training schedule?” Beta Andrew asks when I walk into the communal area. I look around for Erica and when I find her sitting with some of the warriors I decide against disturbing her for now, opting to give my parents a call first. 
“Give me twenty minutes. I have an important call to make.” He nods and heads to join some of the warrior’s watching TV while I head to my room, already punching in my mother’s number as I go. She answers the call just as I close the door behind me. 
“Chelsea is going fine.” Her amused voice comes through the speaker and Iaugh. 
“While I am glad to know my daughter is fine, that’s not why I called you. Is Dad with you?” I lay back on my bed, staring at the popcorn ceiling while wondering if this is even real life right now. 
“He’s here somewhere.” She yells for my dad. “Is everything okay on your end?” 
“What’s wrong son?” My dad’s rough voice comes through the line, and I chuckle a bit at their unnecessary concern.
“Nothing is wrong. I just ran into Hydra.” Silence greets me and I look at the phone to make sure the line is still connected. “Did you hear what I said?” 
“We heard you.” My mother’s shaky voice finally comes through. “Are you sure it was her?” She sounds almost too scared to ask the question and honestly, I get it. I held her in my arms and I’m still wondering if I wasn’t dreaming it all up. 
“Yeah, Mom. I’m sure it’s her. She gave me her number. Said you guys could give her a call.” There’s shuffling and then my dad’s voice. 
“Hayden Valentine, if this is a joke I swear I will fly there and hang you by your skin.” I cringe at the mental image; glad I won’t have to go through that. 
“I swear I’m not joking. I ran into her outside the registration office. She’s…” I trail of, wondering if should share the information of her being a Beta before deciding against it. “She’s probably waiting on your call. I’ll send you the number and you guys can give her a call.” They agree without a second thought, and I hang up and send them the number. As I run through the whole encounter with Hydra in my head, Rancor’s talk in the car and from what I know about my sister I can only hope my Prince doesn’t do anything stupid because I don’t see that ending well for anyone. Not with the way her King was looking at her and sizing up Rancor and not with the disgust I saw clear as day in Hydra’s eyes. 
“Hey.” Erica peeks her head inside the room, a worried look on her face. “Is everything okay? Rancor just burst in here like hellfire.” She explains as she closes the door behind her. I hold out my hand to her, gently folding her into my side when she joins me on the bed.  
“You’re not going to believe what just happened.”