Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
My mood had dived since I’d had to deflect the Alphas’ strikes at the all-Alpha meeting.
The only good thing about the meeting was Torin taking my side.
Although I was grateful for his support, he’d brought more attention to himself for defending me, which wasn’t good for him.
The way the half-vampire, half-werewolf Alpha had survived in the kingdom was by never shifting into his vampire here and staying low.
Dad climbed the stairs to his bedchamber, gripping The Book of Banished Souls. My book. I loved my dad, but right now I liked him just slightly less for holding my witch book hostage.
I understood that my father kept the book to hide it from the dark witch so we didn’t have a repeat of the fight at Salem’s graveyard.
But Dad’s eyes were unyielding, and his overprotectiveness over me could lead him to…
burn the book or find another way to get rid of it.
Where I was concerned, Dad could infiltrate my privacy like he had done back in London, overstepping and stifling my independence.
I hurried beside him, glancing at his hands that grasped my book roughly. I wouldn’t allow him to damage the book containing important information for me. The book could be my ticket out of being the future Queen, lead me to another witch weapon, or contain answers I desperately needed to know.
I kept up with Dad’s long strides in the hallway. Mom and Dad’s bedroom was the only one on the top floor. No one entered it except them, the housekeeper, and me.
Dad strolled inside with me hot on his tail, but I slowed down as soon as my gaze fell on the numerous pictures of me in various stages of my life.
I had forgotten Mom’s annoying habit of constantly snapping photos of me or the three of us.
She’d proudly displayed my naked baby picture in a large frame.
But unlike before I left the kingdom, I smiled at my naked baby butt and even giggled. Next to it, my thirteen-year-old self greeted me. Mom made me smile widely, showing off my braces. More awkward pictures hung on their beige wall next to their huge bed.
My smile turned bittersweet as I thought about having a family of my own. I understood Mom a little better now. She didn’t want to miss a moment with me. This bedroom was her sanctuary, her quiet space, where she surrounded herself with reminders of me.
And what did I do? I abandoned her and Dad seven years ago. I blinked back tears and slightly shook my head.
Mom told me I would completely understand her only when I had a daughter, and I would understand Dad—only when I became the next Queen.
“Anna?” Dad’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “So now you see what I have to put up with.”
He chuckled and pointed to several pictures resting on an oversized mahogany nightstand on Mom’s side of the bed.
“She kept on adding more pictures after you left.”
I picked up a framed picture of myself that must have been taken from a distance.
I was leaning against a thick tree at one of my favorite spots in the kingdom forest. The sun shone directly above me, piercing the tree crown and casting soft shadows around my resting body.
My brown hair draped over my chest, and it appeared as if it was glowing like a halo.
My face was the epitome of serenity, and it was because I had my calligraphy pen and a notebook in my hands.
“I didn’t even know Mom took this photo of me. I don’t remember seeing anyone at that moment,” I said, smiling and recalling the memory.
“It wasn’t your mom who took the picture, Anna,” Dad said softly. “It was Hayden, and he sent the picture to your mom.”
I took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the bed. How could I have been so distracted, not noticing my mate and his feelings? Most of the time, I was on high alert when I lived in the kingdom, avoiding bumping into people, but still.
I reached over and put the picture back in its place. Then I ran my hand over the smooth, silky bedsheet.
I felt like I had missed important clues while living in the kingdom.
I stood and scanned the large room again, now seeing it in a different light. It was filled with warmth, love, and colors.
I shook my head as my gaze fell on my parents’ oversized bed. I would rather not think about my parents in that way. Their affection for each other and constant touching weren’t a secret in the territory. I groaned, and if I had a delete button in my mind, I’d be pressing it hard now.
Mom loved cooking, gardening, and volunteering at the orphanage, while Dad handled the meetings and politics. But Mom silently supported him from the sidelines. It worked for them.
But I was different from Mom. I couldn’t stay silent and in the shadows. And today’s meeting only proved that I would have to fight hard against the Alphas to implement changes in the kingdom.
A soft click echoed in the room, and I turned to face Dad. He stood against the wall opposite the bed, his hand retreating to his side. That wall was a floor-to-ceiling built-in shelf. And the click was from the opening of a secret door.
I made a mental note of the spot where Dad’s hand was.
The shelves moved outward toward us, revealing a massive security vault door.
I dashed behind Dad as he pressed his index finger over a small screen.
Another sound echoed in the room, but it was more like two metal parts grinding together this time.
Dad twisted his head and looked at me with raised eyebrows.
“What?” I shrugged and stifled a groan.
Dad could see through my antics, and I felt like I was seven years old again, hiding under the kitchen table at midnight when Dad caught me eating cookies.
He smiled, the soft one reserved for me, and walked inside. As I followed him, I noticed the number keypad next to the fingerprint scan.
I’d never ventured inside my parents’ safe room because I wasn’t allowed inside.
The room was as large as Torin’s and set up similarly with shelves organized with antiques, weapons, jewelry, and papers. In an emergency, the three of us would comfortably fit in here.
On the opposite wall, there was another sturdy door.
“Where does it lead to, Dad?” I pointed at it.
“I wanted to tell you about it,” Dad said and smiled. “Don’t get any ideas about your book.”
He lifted the book and placed it beside his and Mom’s crowns on a shelf.
I swallowed the sigh that wanted to escape my mouth.
“The door leads to the secret passages under and around the kingdom. They were built long ago under a different King, but the tradition of passing the secret continues.”
Dad strolled over to the door and pressed the metal handle down. The door opened about an inch, and Dad shut it immediately. He wanted me to know that it was unlocked.
“This has been the escape route for the royal families over many generations. We never had to use it so far.” Dad walked up to me and grasped my shoulders.
“Anna, when the dark witch attacks tomorrow with whatever army she brings, if it looks like she is winning, I need you, your mom, and Hayden to escape through the secret passageways. Do you understand?”
So much worry laced Dad’s voice that goose bumps rose on my forearms.
“Wait…you think Cordelia has a good chance to win?”
He released my shoulders and sighed. “I worry about who she’ll bring with her.
She’ll have a greater chance to win if she brings those creatures and if there are many of them.
Our warriors are unprepared to deal with the creatures’ abilities.
We don’t know their weak areas, not like we know our enemies, the vampires.
They breathe fire, and that’s concerning. ”
The huge hellhound with a spiky, deadly tail had burned several of Torin’s men in his pack.
I looked around the room. Even if the werewolves had safe rooms in their houses, they were unsafe. If the house caught on fire, so would the safe room; if it didn’t burn, it’d fill with smoke. People would burn alive or suffocate while trapped inside.
I drew in a deep breath. “Dad, we’ll have to rethink the use of the secret passages behind this door. Where do the tunnels go?”
Dad frowned. “Everywhere, even to the dark dungeon.”
“We can’t just use them for the royals only.
We have to save all the people in the kingdom since they won’t be safe in their vaults,” I said.
“We’ll evacuate the people to the tunnels through the dungeon.
The dungeon’s doors are massive and metal, and I assume the tunnels are mostly dirt, gravel, and rocks, right? Nothing flammable?”
Dad’s gaze moved to the side. He was connecting the dots, analyzing the possibility of hiding those not trained to fight Cordelia.
Eventually, he nodded. “That would work. I’ll let the Alphas know immediately.”
He smiled at me, so I used his good mood.
“So, you won’t tell me the code for your vault?”
“No way. You’ll just run in here to steal your book,” he said and chuckled.
I placed my hands on my hips. At least he hadn’t burned the book.
“So how do you want me to be the next Queen when you won’t even share the code with me?”
“You’re too smart for your own good. But you’re my daughter first and then the future Queen. After your mating ritual, I’ll tell you all the codes and kingdom secrets.” He paused. “I can see the resolve on your face to open the book. Let’s not give Cordelia another reason to fight you.”
I stifled a groan. Mom and Hayden knew the code. If I pestered them for it, they would get in trouble with Dad and the Alphas. Sharing secrets was considered betrayal, punishable by time in the dungeon.
If the King didn’t share a code with his daughter, she wasn’t supposed to know—at least for now. Anyone aiding me would get in so much trouble.
The Alphas had a lot of power in the kingdom, so the King didn’t become a ruthless dictator and abuse his power.
But Hayden was on good terms with the Alphas. Even if he got in trouble, the high-ranking werewolves would easily forgive him. Once Hayden recovered, I would ask him for the code.
Dad walked to the shelf with both crowns, picked up a soft towel and Mom’s crown, and started polishing it. He made small circles over the platinum, which was already shiny.
My parents wore their crowns only during ceremonies. The crowns symbolized the absolute authority of the werewolf Queen and King to pack members. But Dad had taught me that the crowns had a deeper meaning for the royal family.
It was not only power, but it represented femininity, strength, and connection to nature for the Queen. When Mom’s crown was passed down to me, I wouldn’t change a thing about the intertwined vines and the crescent moon in the middle. Little diamonds covered the entire length of the crescent.
When Mom commissioned their crowns, she chose platinum because it was harder, more durable, and wouldn’t tarnish.
I stared at the beautiful Queen’s crown in Dad’s hands. It had a bright luster similar to the moon, which wolves howled at.
“Do you want to try it on, Anna?” Dad extended his arm, holding the crown, and I wanted to reach out and touch it.
But I kept my arms to my sides. “No, not now, Dad.”
The crown was a calling I had to answer, my destiny, but I wasn’t ready for it.
Dad turned and placed the Queen’s crown down, wiped his fingerprints off it, and picked up the King’s crown. Although the metal was hard, there was a softness to the curves of the vines and the contours of the crescent. Just like Mom’s.
Like a frame, the King’s crown had a solid base, and the pointy parts were rugged and sharp.
The knowledge of my book’s safe location and the fact that Dad hadn’t damaged it were small reliefs in the sea of turmoil. Now it was time to confess about my mates. A knot tightened in my stomach at the thought while I sent a mental prayer to the Fates.
“Dad, how is it possible to have two fated mates?” The question slipped from my lips, and I gulped loudly.
Telling him the truth was the right thing to do, though.
My heart pounded against my rib cage, and the acid on my tongue tasted like fear for Dad’s response. Once he discovered the truth about Torin, my father would forbid me from mating with Torin. I swallowed hard, feeling as if I stood on the edge of an abyss with no safety net in sight.
Once Dad knew that Torin was my mate, his staunch disapproval would become another wall separating me from Torin.
This wasn’t about breaking impossible news to Dad. It was about shattering Dad’s wrong perceptions and shaking the foundations he’d built over the years. It was about attempting to have Torin accepted in this kingdom, and that acceptance had to start at the top, with the King.
The Fates let me choose between two fates, but I was determined to fight for the one that included Torin, even if it meant challenging everything my father, the King, believed in.