Rejected and Pregnant by the Alpha King (Forbidden Alpha Kings #4)

27. Aiden

27

Aiden

“The reports indicate that the Southern King’s journey has taken him west, a hundred miles from here.” Constance smooths her hand over the maps, pressing the creases out of it as we all gather around the large table. Her hands flick quickly with a red marker as she draws out the trail. “We have reports of him staying in a human town called Northwood for several days.”

When she circles a part of the map and annotates it as “Northwood,” I frown, puzzled.

“What business would he have in a human town that’s a thousand miles away from his packlands?” My finger traces a line down from my mouth to my jaw as confusion shifts through me.

Honestly, what would any alpha king need in a human town way up here that he couldn’t get anywhere else? It makes no sense to travel such a far distance when he could be sending a pack of enforcers to do the job for him.

For another king to be showing up in the North like this— my North—spells trouble.

Nyx Calloway has always been known to be a dangerous individual. His sudden presence means he’s planning something.

“We’re not sure. Both he and his beta were traveling with a healthy-sized group to here.” Constance circles a smaller portion of the map, lower than Northwood. “To another pack’s territory. From our reports, they didn’t stay long before they traveled to Northwood.”

“So, he was meeting with them. The pack.” Camden, my beta, walks over from where he’d been leaning against the wall closest to the window. He stops in front of the table to lean over and observe the map, a pensive expression crossing his face.

“Which one was it?” I look back to Constance.

Whoever had been dumb enough to invite the Southern King into my half of the states will need to explain themselves. I won’t be taking “well we didn’t know” for an answer. When an alpha king shows up at your doorstep, they are there for a reason—not to swing by for a visit.

This pack, whoever they are, is hiding something.

She shakes her head. “I don’t know the name. But they’re small. Isolated. On the poorer side from what it seems.”

“We should go talk to them,” Camden suggests.

The rest of the shifters around me, my most seasoned veterans, all seem to be in agreement as I survey the room. While I am curious as to what Nyx Calloway could possibly be planning, I’m also hesitant to leave my pack with my upcoming ascension just on the horizon.

All of this will be kept secret from the rest of the pack of course, however my absence would be noticed almost immediately, especially if I were called upon by the elders.

My people are used to seeing me around our town and if I were to suddenly excuse myself away in order to get to the bottom of this, it could cause unrest that may even extend to our neighboring packs.

With my father dying almost four months ago, my seat on his throne has been precarious at best. He was a beloved leader and the kind of alpha that not many could fill the shoes of. Of course I’m a close second, but even with my pack and the rest under my rule knowing that I’m his son, there’s still some skepticism following me.

“Perhaps I’ll just send the both of you.” I nod to both Constance and Camden.

Constance frowns at me, her brows pinching together in that way that she does when she’s trying to figure out why I’m acting the way that I am without outright asking me. Camden on the other hand is a much different story.

As my beta, he has the authority to question me when others can’t. And while he doesn’t do that every often, when it does happen, I listen.

“Your Grace, it would be better if you came with us. I doubt they’ll admit to anything if you aren’t there to put pressure on them,” he says.

“Yes.” I sigh. “I realize that, but I’m willing to take the chance. Who knows? Perhaps Nyx tried to seize their lands for some reason and failed. Him visiting doesn’t necessarily mean they were in the wrong.”

“Your Grace.” Silas, another one of my advisors, steps forward. “We will be able to manage without you if you must go.”

“I am more worried about our pack’s fragility than our strength at the borders,” I say.

He shifts uncomfortably while Constance’s frown deepens.

Unfortunately, I make a good point. Only those in this room know the details of my pack’s elders and the pressure they’ve put on me as my ascension grows nearer. All five of them are ruthless in their wants for tradition, hence them forcing me into taking a Luna, among other things.

Their steadfast rigidity has made all of our lives rather difficult over the past few months and has made mourning our previous king a fleeting thing.

With Nyx Calloway coming into the picture to complicate things, I don’t want to rock the boat any more than I already have.

Raine’s betrayal was a stark blow, one that I’m still not sure I can recover from. However, regardless of my own personal feelings, I must move forward and focus on this. At least it will keep me distracted for the time being.

“I…suppose you make a point.” Camden sighs. “Constance and I will go to the pack and talk to them. If they tell us nothing, we’ll stick around for a bit and try to talk to some of the pack members. Someone has to know something.”

I nod in agreement. “Of course. Keep me in the loop with whatever you find. I can work on things here while you two are there.”

“Will do, Your Grace.”

***

The elders call upon me sooner than I’m prepared for.

Their dark chambers are cool as I step inside them. The low lighting causes my night vision to slowly adjust before I make my way down the passageway, coming out on the other side where it opens up into a grand chamber.

Five of my elders sit uniformly in a line, all of them waiting for me to arrive.

Back a few decades ago, this position within the pack was not only respected but revered. To be an elder meant that you were above even the king who ruled you at some points. As the eldest and wisest of the authorities, their rulings typically took precedent.

However, that was decades ago, and times have changed.

No longer as alpha kings do we fear our neighbors or the humans that have slowly begun to surround us. We, as our own nations, have come together in times of need and relied on each other for guidance and not turned to those among us in our pack with higher social status.

I was raised on a healthy skepticism of the world around me. My mother was the smartest person I’ve ever known and to this day, years after her death, I still think that. She’d been our pack elders’ least favorite candidate out of the pool of potential Lunas, but she quickly caught my father’s eye with her wit and charm.

Oftentimes growing up, I’d been told by my elders that my mother was a prime example of what not to look for in a Luna. I could never understand it, my mother with her brilliance and her sun of a personality, how she couldn’t be their chosen favorite.

She’d been dimmed by her role as Luna by these same elders, slipping away over time as I grew older and our pack more demanding of her light, until there was nothing left of her to give.

I don’t know how Raine would have fared, standing before them. I’d been making plans to ease her into it, to try to cultivate the perfect time to present her to my elders and the rest of my pack.

All of that had been for nothing, though.

“Aiden.” Boleus, our youngest elder, leans forward. The lines in his forehead are deep, distracting me temporarily with the shape of them. “You are making progress on your ascension?”

I nod. “Yes. It’s nearly upon us.”

“Then why have we not been invited to talk to you and your Luna?”

I hold in a wince.

I highly doubt any “advice” they have for us would be of any use. As it stands now, Anais and I are hardly getting along. That is not something I want to present to our elders, especially with their keen eyes.

My parents mated for love, which is a rare occurrence in our world. And while my mating to Anais would be seen as typical, the divide between us would not.

I’d be grilled until I was on my knees and begging for mercy about why my resistance to my future Luna was so staunch. Our elders would be none too happy to realize that I’d met my fated mate and subsequently cast her out.

Fated mates, above all else, ruled even elders’ choices in matchmaking.

Yet still I’d been hesitant to bring Raine around—had my subconscious known?

“I don’t see the need to. We are perfectly fine,” I say.

There is a stony silence that follows—one that is obviously displeased with my not immediately bending to their will.

They are used to my father taking their advice at any given notice. However, my mother taught me differently and therefore poisoned my mind for everything, as the elders would say.

“We would like both of you to come here and present yourselves to us,” Lenari, our middle oldest elder says.

“Are you concerned I have not picked a good match for my Luna?” I ask.

There’s another stony silence, but this is one of discomfort. Maybe it’s wrong of me to force my authority over them so early into this—I’m not yet king and once I am, there will be some things that even I won’t be able to have a final say in.

However, tradition is tradition and despite all of that, I will still be their king. Their respect for me is unfortunately ingrained into their bones, whether they like it or not.

“No, Your Grace.” Boleus clears his throat. “That’s not it at all.”

“Excellent.” I smile. “Then I shall see you all at my ascension.”

None of them say anything, nor do they stop me as I turn and head back out of the chamber. I keep my composure until I leave the sanctuary and then finally, I let myself breathe and my hands shake.

I wish my mother was still here.