Chapter 177 I Can’t Leave Without Ethan

Cerina and Seraphine gasped; so did I, but I forced myself to calm down.

“Seraphine, please get everyone gathered at the altar,” I instructed Seraphine and then turned to Soren. “Soren, I need to understand the situation more. Follow me. When did you get here?”

“I came with Seraphine and Cerina,” he explained as we all returned to the altar. “But I didn’t want to bother anyone, sol stayed in the woods nearby.” His eyes went to Ethan, and I could tell that he’d kept his distance because of Ethan. He probably didn’t want to give his brother any more reasons to be angry.

But Ethan was still in so much discomfort that he didn’t even look up at the sound of Soren’s voice.

The group soon gathered together, and Soren reiterated that with the approaching enemy, we needed to go back to the palace as soon as possible.

I looked at Ethan and checked the time. He still had three hours left before we could leave the altar.

“Soren, how far are they?”

“Thomas spotted them and mindlinked me. I estimate about three to four hours away.”

Time was tight, but we had enough time to finish up and leave before Madalynn and Behar arrived.

“We can’t leave now. You know why we are here. We need three more hours for the ritual to complete. Otherwise, all of our efforts will be wasted.”

“What do you mean, you can’t leave? Are you nuts?! There are thousands of wolves coming and we’ve only got about fifty of us here total! If we die here, it doesn’t matter if Ethan is back to himself or not!”

I explained, “If we lose Ethan, the Winter Forest pack won’t be able to withstand the combined forces of Madalynn, Kal, and James. We would be doomed anyway. Also, Ethan only needs three more hours, and as soon as he’s up, we’ll go.”

Commander Landon was the first to disagree. “Your Majesty, that’s too risky!”

“Your Majesty, Soren and Landon are right. We cannot afford to put you in danger. Also, like you said, Alpha Ethan probably would be able to fully recover and retreat before the enemy arrives anyway.” Cerina backed them up. “As soon as Alpha Ethan has recovered, he can lead his force out, I’m sure. So please leave with His Highness at once!”

This time, even Talon, Vicky, and Georgia agreed with her.

I looked around and took a moment to reassess the situation. Their advice seemed to make sense, but I found myself shaking my head. “I can’t do that.”

Soren raised his voice. “Rosalie, as a queen, you’re not being responsible for your people!”

Georgia, Talon, and Vicky patted my shoulder. “Rosalie, I know you don’t want to leave us here, but we’d be fine…”

I lifted my gaze and glanced around, waiting for everyone to quiet down. Then I stated, “Please listen to me. I made this decision not only because of Alpha Ethan, but because of the citizens outside. I also have a feeling that the situation is more complicated than we thought.“

They all looked at me now. I started my analysis once I knew I grabbed their attention. “Soren, you said Thomas spotted Madalynn and Behar coming this way?”

“Yes”

“That means the people outside could all be harmed or killed if we don’t think of something. We know Madalynn’s rogues are menacing and we’ve seen what they have done. Those people outside are from nearby villages, but they cannot go back as their homes are no longer safe once Madalynn’s rogues get here.”

Cerina immediately said, ‘We’ll lead them to the palace right now- along with Your Majesty and Your Highness!

“I thought about that too,” I nodded. “But i think it’s too late for us to do so now.”

“I don’t understand. Rosalie, you are scaring me…” Vicky murmured.copy right hot novel pub