The Alpha’s Cursed Queen (Eternal Oath Saga #1)

Chapter 29

Darian

The tip that came in about Thomas’s location was a little strange. I probably should have brought some back up with me. I moved quickly when I received the information; perhaps I was too hasty. And now, I’m halfway to Alpha Rodriguez’s house when I realize I don’t even have my phone on me. I can either keep going or head back to the palace, grab my phone, and get my ear chewed off by my mate for not bringing any soldiers with me.

My decision is the obvious one. I turn the car around and drive back to the palace. I park outside the entrance of the main wing where I’m staying with Alice, and as I enter the foyer, I’m about to call out for Brian when I see somebody standing by my father’s portrait that hangs there.

I’ve been accustomed to seeing Lucius wearing his formal attire since childhood. To see him in a robe, unshaven, with his hair a mess makes me pause. I’ve never liked the man. He has always been disdainful toward me. Of course, now I know why. He knows I’m not biologically related to the royal family. Why should he have to treat me with respect?

However, right now, he looks so old and frail that he reminds me of my father—I mean, the former king.

My heart aches for a brief second.

“Lucius?”

He glances toward me, startled. “Your Majesty.” He sounds lost.

“What’re you doing here?” I set down my keys on the table at the entrance.

“I couldn’t sleep.” He looks back at my father’s portrait. “Do you know that all the paintings of your father have been removed and replaced with ones of you? Aside from the one in the great hall where all the previous kings have their portraits hanging, this is the only one left of him in the palace.”

I didn’t know that.

“Don’t you have photographs of him?”

“Sure,” he says quietly. “I guess I do.”

He glances at me, his eyes tired. “I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’ll be on my way.”

It angers me that I feel sorry for the man. He was always so arrogant, so proud, when my father was alive, but now, he looks like a broken shell.

If my father could see him, it would sadden him. Lucius was his best friend. Each king has a companion from childhood. Lucius was my father’s, as Jimmy is mine.

As I watch him shuffle away, my hands ball into fists. This is not the time or place for this conversation, but I can’t stop myself. “Did you know?”

He stops and looks over his shoulder at me. “Know what?”

“That I wasn’t—That I’m not of royal blood.”

His eyes widen, and before I can say another word, he growls, “Shut up!”

I’m taken aback by his anger. “So, you knew.”

“Lower your voice, Darian!” he snaps at me before covering the distance between us. “This is not a conversation to be had in public.”

“We’re in a residential wing of the palace. Nobody else is here.”

“Your father—The king always said that the walls have ears. Don’t be so foolish.”

“I want to know if it’s true,” I demand in a lower voice. “I want to know why my parents threw me away.”

Lucius scowls. “You were raised as a prince. You lacked nothing. Don’t cry to me about being thrown away.”

“I lacked nothing?” I spit out. “How about my father’s love? I always wondered why the king never wanted to be close to me. I did everything right. I worked hard, I was an overachiever, but he would never praise me. Now I know why. I wasn’t his. Aside from making me into the perfect heir, he had no interest in me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. He cared about you.”

“He’s long gone, Lucius. You don’t have to lie for him anymore. I know the truth.” Lucius stares at me as I add, “I just want to know who my parents were. I want to know why they walked away from me.”

Lucius’s jaw tightens. “Nobody abandoned you, and nobody walked away from you. I was always here.”

I blink. “What?”

“I was here, Darian. I never abandoned you. But I couldn’t raise you, either. When Rita died, you were a child. My duties involved me having to serve the king at every hour of the day. I didn’t have time for a child. I kept nannies to look after you. I was barely around. And then, Edward lost his daughter…” He sighs, running his hand over his face. “He refused to take a mate after Freya passed. He needed an heir. You were two years old at that point. He asked for you. It was a suggestion at first, one made lightheartedly. And then it became more than that. He needed an heir, and I needed somebody to raise you. If you became the prince, I could watch over you. Edward wanted to adopt you, but I couldn’t let him do that, so he forged papers claiming you were his son, and I agreed to it. You were my only connection to Rita. I couldn’t give that up. But Edward cared for you. Don’t ever think he didn’t.”

Stunned, I gape at him. “You? You are my father?” Disbelief makes me snort. “Don’t make me laugh. You’ve always hated me.”

“There you go again with all your assumptions,” Lucius growls at me in exasperation. “You liked slacking off like any other kid. I was strict with you because Edward refused to be. And I wanted you to grow up into a fine young man. Why would I hate you? You’re so melodramatic.”

I don’t know what to say. Of all the things I expected Lucius to say, this certainly wasn’t it. “Were you ever going to tell me the truth?”

He shrugs. “Why? You’re the king. You have everything you need. Why would I ruin your life by telling you this? How did you even find out, anyway?”

“I was trying to save your granddaughter’s life when this little tidbit of information fell in my lap.”

Lucius’s eyes widen again. “My granddaughter?”

“I have a daughter, Lucius. Haven’t you heard the gossip? My mate and my daughter have been living here for the past week.”

Lucius looks pale. “I’m not—I really don’t leave my cottage anymore. I—I only came out tonight because I couldn’t sleep. You had a daughter with Willow? When?”

“I divorced Willow,” I tell him, getting frustrated now. “Just because the king died, it didn’t mean you had to retreat from the world.”

“There’s no use for me anymore,” Lucius mumbles, looking puzzled. “I just—If you divorced Willow, who’s your mate? Who’s your—How did you get a daughter so fast?”

“Alice Lane. My fated mate.”

He staggers, as if the information is physically taxing to him. Grabbing him by the arm, I lower him into the chair closest to us. Lucius—No, my father’s hand grips my sleeve as he demands hoarsely, “Say that again? Did you say Alice Lane?”

“Yes.”

He begins to laugh. It turns into a hysterical sound. Dropping my sleeve, he buries his face in his hands, all the while laughing so hard that I’m beginning to feel a little offended.

“What’s so funny?” I demand. “What’s wrong now?”

“Full circle.” His back is hunched as he rests his forehead in his hands. “It all comes back full circle, doesn’t it?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” The man is infuriating!

He looks up at me, and the tears in his eyes startle me. “My son and Edward’s daughter. You mated Edward’s daughter. Of all the women to choose. How did you even find her? He went to such lengths to hide her from you after what happened during the mating gathering. At least, he tried to.”

“My father hid her?” I already suspected as much, but having it confirmed is an entirely different matter.

Lucius leans back in his chair. “You don’t know anything, boy. Freya, the queen, had red hair. Nobody remembers that much about her because she was very sickly. She rarely made public appearances, and when she did, Edward had her covered from head to toe. During the mating gathering, he thought Alice looked familiar, and after he met her in the garden, he knew. He knew from her scent, and up close, he saw Freya in her. He supported your mating after that. He had initially been supporting Thomas because of the pressure from the white witches, but when he discovered Alice’s true identity, he changed his mind. He wanted you to mate with her, and then, you threw everything away.”

“I didn’t have a choice. Willow found out about Alice having the dark witch mark. Things got very complicated. I was trying to save Alice. I didn’t know Willow would bring in the white witches when she did. I had to make a deal with her to save Alice’s life.”

“Did it occur to you at any moment to reach out to either me or Edward? We would’ve dealt with that.” Lucius sounds irate.

I look away. “I was foolish. I admit it. But to be fair, the king’s behavior wasn’t exactly so generous toward me that I could approach him with a personal problem. And you weren’t particularly friendly with me, either. I didn’t think I could trust either of you.”

Lucius is silent for a few moments, his fingers interlocked as his gaze lingers on the marble floor. “He resented you for years for what you put his daughter through.”

“Alice and I spent the night together when she was here.” I can’t shake off the guilt. “She was pregnant when she left. You have a granddaughter. Mira.”

Lucius frowns and sits up straight in the chair. “That phone call. Just a few minutes before you came.”

“Phone call?”

“It was a woman named Alice. I didn’t connect the dots. She said to tell you that the witches took Mira. I thought it was a prank call, and then the line went dead.”

My blood grows cold. “What were her exact words?”

“Just that. She said, ‘It’s Alice. Tell Darian that the witches took Mira,’ and then the call ended.”

“Brian!” I roar into the empty hall. A few seconds later, Brian hurries over to me just as I’m reaching for the landline. “Where is Alice?”

“Her Majesty left.” He hands me my cell phone. “You forgot this here. She tried calling you. She was in a hurry. She told me to tell you to call her when you got back.”

“Where did she go?”

“She was going after you, Your Majesty. In the red Jaguar.”

That’s not possible. I turned the car around. I would’ve seen her.

I try to call Alice, but there’s no answer. I try to call Jimmy, then Mary, and no one picks up. My next phone call is to Katherine.

“Where is Mira?”

Katherine’s voice is rough, and she doesn’t seem surprised to hear from me. “There was a car accident. The Black Arrow guys were all found unconscious at the scene. Jimmy and Mary were badly injured. I’ve been trying to get in touch with Alice, but her phone must be dead. Something happened, Darian. There’s no sign of Mira. It was as if she was never there.”

“What do you mean, never there?”

Katherine’s voice is shaking. “There were traffic cameras on that road, Darian. I’ve seen the footage. The car came to a stop, and then these women, all cloaked in white, surrounded it. Your men got out of the car and immediately dropped to the ground. Jimmy and Mary tried to fight. One of the cloaked figures reached into the car and then completely vanished. The others retreated. There is no sign of Mira. The police are looking into it. I’m at the station.”

My heart sinks. That call from Alice—She must know where Mira is! But if her phone isn’t on, I can’t track its location.

I try to think of where Mira could be. She has to be in Arizona somewhere. Did Alice go to her?

Katherine’s words come back to my mind. She said that Mira never left the car, but the woman who reached into the car vanished. What if the white witches figured out a way to transport Mira here without the time usually spent traveling? The extent of the magic they can do is beyond my knowledge. Can witches practice transportation magic? Is that even a thing?

“You said Alice took the red Jag?”

“Yes, Sire,” Brian says quickly.

“Get an alert out there. Any sign of that car—”

Lucius gets to his feet. “I have a better solution. Come with me, Brian.”

I follow them. “Searching for her will take ages.”

“You mean, minutes,” Lucius says sharply.

He leads us to the security office, which has multiple screens showing every part of the palace.

“Get out,” Lucius barks at the security personnel, who take one look at me and exit the room. He sits down and fiddles with the keyboard. The camera footage on one screen disappears, replaced by a plain-looking computer program. “Give me the license plate, year, model, everything.”

Brian begins describing the car, and Lucius’s fingers fly over the keyboard. This is the first time I’ve seen him so animated since the king died.

Within minutes, the screen in front of us displays numerous still photographs taken from traffic cameras. Lucius gets rid of the blurry ones. “Which car is it?”

He looks at me, and I point at one of the pictures. He types something again, and this time, only images of my Jaguar show up, arranged according to time stamp.

“There.” He magnifies a picture with the latest time stamp, a mere five minutes ago.

The car door is open, and the lights are on, but Alice is nowhere to be seen. Lucius expands the image, and I know exactly where it is.

“The lake,” I breathe. Mira has seen the lake in her dreams, but why would Alice go there? Does she think Mira is there? I’m having a hard time thinking straight, but I pull myself together and look at Lucius. “You know how to contact the Black Arrows, don’t you?”

He nods.

“Get in touch with the ones in Phoenix. Get an update from them. We need to find Mira. Alice went to the lake for a reason. I’m going to go after her. She’s there alone, and she may need backup.” I turn to Brian. “Get the soldiers,” I order him. As he leaves, I hand Lucius a flash drive. “Here. This is a live-feed transmitter.”

“What live feed?”

“Trust me on this. Plug it in, and if a live feed appears, blast it to every shifter’s phone and screen. Can you do that?”

Lucius nods.

I hurry out the door, and the soldiers are already waiting for me. I don’t bother with a car; I shift into my wolf form, and my men follow suit. Going through the woods will be the quickest way to get to the lake. Moving past the palace grounds, my soldiers on my heels, I run as fast as I can, with Lucius’s words spinning in my head.

Alice. It was Alice all along. No wonder the king was so angry with me. He had finally gotten his daughter back, only for me to hurt her so viciously. In his eyes, I tortured her. I wonder if he passed away without forgiving me. The thought is upsetting. Even if he wasn’t my real father, I thought he was my entire life up till now. The idea of him loathing me all the way to the grave is painful.

I know it doesn’t matter anymore. He’s gone, and his daughter is my mate. If I couldn’t protect her in front of him, at least his spirit now knows that I will keep her safe.

I push myself to the very limits, trying to get to Alice. The woods are all connected, and I know how to get to the lake through them. However, the distance is long, and despite my speed, it takes time.

My soldiers are right behind me when I finally do reach the lake. I stop while we’re still in the woods, shifting back and catching a variety of different scents in the area. I hold up a hand, and all the wolves following me come to a halt. They, too, shift into their human forms, treading carefully behind me as I reach the tree line.

As soon as the lake comes into view, I see Alice, and I sigh in relief. She’s okay. There’s someone else with her, plus at least ten white-cloaked figures surrounding them. Only white witches wear such cloaks.

A few feet away, near the edge of the lake, is a small child. Mira. She’s not alone; she is surrounded by white witches, as well.

A growl leaves my throat.

Alice is struggling to stand as the witches chant something. The last time I saw them doing something like this to Alice, it caused her excruciating pain.

I stride out from among the trees, quietly motioning for my men to stay hidden.

“Step away from my mate.”

The white witches surrounding Alice go still, and the single uncloaked individual standing close to her turns around to face me. “I hope you are referring to me, Darian.”

“Willow,” I snarl. “How did you get out of the dungeon?”

“It wasn’t that hard. The white witches came for me.” Willow smiles at me. “Are you surprised to see me? You must be happy.”

I bare my teeth at her. “I should’ve ripped your head off when I had the chance.”

Willow’s expression doesn’t flicker. “I doubt you’ll be singing the same tune in a minute. And if I were you, I’d call off the divorce.”

“Why would I do that?” I ask, noticing that Alice is remaining silent. She has not turned around to look at me, her face remaining toward Willow.

“If you don’t, you will never see your daughter again. You can choose.” Willow gestures toward both Alice and Mira. “Which one do you want to keep alive? If you choose Alice, then you will lose the throne. The witches will replace you with my father. And if you choose Mira, then you will take me back. The witches will keep Mira, and you will give me a mating mark and have children with me. Your life will stay the same. Don’t make the stupid decision, Darian.”

I study Willow, her calm behavior quite disturbing to me. “What makes you think you have the power to give me such a choice? You seem to forget your place, Willow. You are a disgraced and divorced queen. And as for the white witches, who claim to have the authority to interfere in the royal family, they will be dealt with, as well.”

Willow looks amused. “You will deal with the white witches? They’re witches, Darian. They’re more powerful than you.”

“The only power they should have is healing magic, but it seems that the information I’ve recently gathered is correct. The white witches have been using the dark witches in rituals to steal their powers. Isn’t that right, Serena?”

My head swivels to the right, and after a moment, a woman walks out from the trees, taking off her hood as she does. Like Nara, Serena has a youthful appearance: maybe in her mid-twenties, her eyes a beautiful shade of amber, her lips a deep red, and her long, dark hair tumbling around her shoulders.

She is the leader of the white witches’ coven, one of the oldest living members.