Chapter 8 #2
A long moment passed while I tapped my finger on my blanket’s soft material.
Hayden had updated Dad on the recent events with Cordelia and Victoria, but how much did the Alphas know?
Knowing how trusting Dad was—something I hadn’t inherited from him—I’d guess he had updated the Alphas with anything he knew.
Dad’s soft gaze lowered to my neck, and he frowned. Fury passed behind his eyes, but he didn’t know of the rage boiling in me. My trust in my father had crumbled, too.
“How long were you going to hide the fact that Cordelia stole my wolf spirit, Dad?”
Glancing at the Alphas, who intently watched their King with stony expressions, confirmed my suspicions that they had just learned about my wolf spirit.
“I planned on telling you when you returned to the kingdom. You left when you were eighteen, and it was too early to tell you back then. I was afraid you would seek revenge and go after Cordelia when you weren’t ready, Anna.”
Leaning forward, I twisted my body and fluffed the soft pillow several times. “Revenge? What revenge, Dad? How could I have desired to go after a powerful witch when I thought I was an average human?”
I gave the pillow a couple of punches and turned back to face my audience, leaning against the headboard. “Perhaps I wasn’t going to seek revenge, and you had to let me choose what to do. You had to tell me the truth.”
Dad took a deep, pained breath, closed his eyes, and reopened them a moment later. The softness of my blanket felt wrong and hot over my skin. Pulling it up to my chest, I fought the urge to toss it on the floor.
“I attempted to shift two or three times at the transformation ritual you lead yearly, Dad. My desire to shift must have come from my werewolf side, but you let me participate, knowing too well I had no wolf spirit. You let me make a fool of myself.”
The quilt felt like hot coals over my lower body, and I kicked it aside, bunching it up where Hayden sat next to me. My light-pink PJ shorts were long enough to cover my daisy wheel birthmark but short enough to make the Alphas shuffle in their spots.
Hayden chuckled when I crossed my legs and arms.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop Cordelia,” Dad said and released a deep sigh. “And for not telling you about your biological mother sooner.”
“We’ll talk more later. There’s been so much happening, so I need time.” I hoped the cliché of time healing all wounds was correct, for Dad’s sake and mine.
Alpha Henry put his massive hand over Dad’s shoulder and looked at me. “I understand your anger toward the King, but Princess, please focus on our priorities.”
I suppressed a sigh and met the Alpha’s gaze directly.
“And what are our priorities, Alpha Henry?” I asked, keeping my voice steady.
“We need to deal with Alpha Torin as soon as possible. There is still danger. We always knew Prince Derek’s death was due to a vampire attack. But I could not have foreseen that it was one of ours,” Alpha Henry said.
And there it was—the real topic of why the Alphas had marched into my bedroom.
Dad’s previous apologetic expression turned murderous at the mention of my mate’s name.
“I want to end Torin for killing my brother and for trying to kill my daughter,” Dad said with a clenched jaw. “How much more can he take away from me? It was a mistake saving his life thirty years ago.”
His hands balled into fists, and he looked like he wanted to punch the wall.
The King rarely lost his composure; my next words would probably shake him even more.
“Dad,” I said, calming down with a deep, cleansing breath. “Torin was punished enough with living eternity with regret and guilt. Instead of death, I suggest that he’s stripped of his title.”
My father’s eyes widened, but he nodded.
His agreement came a bit too fast to be believable, though.
I stared at him with narrowed eyes. Torin’s execution would be the only way the King would receive closure—I was sure of that.
The death of his brother at the hands of one of his men was something Dad could not forgive.
“We are declaring Torin a rogue. I’m sending people after him to deliver the message,” Dad said in a low voice that sent shivers down my spine.
If Dad’s warriors found Torin, they would bring him to the kingdom after torturing him, which I was sure Torin would gladly accept. Then Dad would get rid of Torin forever—that was the werewolf way.
I disagreed with the eye-for-an-eye way of bringing justice, but I was powerless to change anything.
Hayden leaned closer to my side, placing his hand next to my thigh, his finger brushing gently at my exposed skin. The spot where we connected warmed, and tiny electrical jolts ran up my core. I sucked in a breath and snapped my gaze to my bodyguard.
He ignored my sharp look and winked at me.
“Hayden,” I whispered my warning.
Without disconnecting his intense gaze from me, Hayden said, “The Princess needs to rest.”
The Alphas headed out of the bedroom, which I appreciated, but Hayden could have just asked them to do so without touching me.
Alpha Henry turned right before he walked out. I wouldn’t say I liked the satisfied expression on his face and his broad smile. His gaze darted between Hayden and me.
“Princess, our advice is to move on. You have to learn to live without this mate. He’s not suitable for you anyway.” His eyes moved to Hayden and seemed to brighten just a bit more. “You already have a mate who loves you and appreciates you.”
I snatched the edge of the blanket and pulled it over my body. Hayden removed his trapped hand, still smiling.
“I know that,” I said.
I knew what the Alphas would do next. Dad and the Alphas would take long walks around the kingdom before or after their board meetings to listen to their people. It was Dad’s way of involving the kingdom’s people and letting them voice their opinions.
But this time, the Alphas would spread the message about Torin’s secret and how Uncle Derek had died. Every wolf would turn against Torin.
“Oh, and Princess,” Alpha Henry said. “Tomorrow we will have a board meeting to decide what to do next before the vampire Queen returns for you.”
My eyes grew wide.
“Victoria would use you to draw Torin in, if she can’t catch him herself,” Alpha Henry explained and shut the door behind him.
“So I’ll be the bait?” I muttered, more to myself than the two men in my room.
Suddenly, the soreness in my throat intensified. Lifting my hand to my neck, I massaged the painful bruises.
Hayden placed his hand over my free hand, and little sparks warmed my arm.
“We don’t have to have a meeting. I can talk them out of it.”
Did the Alphas want to use me? That couldn’t be it—Dad would never allow it. They were simply concerned that Victoria would return to capture and use me against Torin. Either way, I felt like a puppet with strings attached for others to manipulate me.
“It’s okay. I also have a lot to tell them. Can both of you please leave me alone to rest now?” I asked.
Dad gave me a look full of regret and walked out. Hayden squeezed my hand, giving me a half smile, and followed my father out of my bedroom.
I drew a slow breath in, filling my cheeks, and exhaled loudly. The Alphas had their own agenda. But if I found the last traitor among them, I could prevent more deaths and destruction in the kingdom.
Layla knew who the traitor was, but convincing her to give me the information would be difficult. My first thought was to ask her for an exchange of information—I could tell her the name of the killer of her father in exchange for the name of the werewolf traitor in the kingdom. But it felt wrong.
I let out a small groan as I swung my legs over the bed. She deserved to know the truth. Regardless of whether she gave me that person’s name, I would tell her about Torin.
Would Layla feel remorse for bullying me?
Strolling through the kingdom, I chose the smaller street outside the busy town to get to the north dungeon where the King usually imprisoned vampires, subjecting them to the worst conditions.
As I made my way through the dimly lit dungeon, the familiar, heavy scent of dampness and despair hung in the air. The guards opened the iron door for me, and I walked inside her prison cell.
Layla looked like a shell of her former self. Her blonde hair stuck out everywhere, tangled. Gone were the sharp, piercing blue eyes that had once glimmered, replaced by a hollow gaze filled with malice, absent of regret.
She sat on a thin mattress on top of a metal base, swinging her legs back and forth.
Her gaze lifted to me, turning wild—not much had changed since she was imprisoned. There was something crazy about her in the way she looked at me.
I’d come here on a hunch and with a mission to tell her the truth. But behind the lifeless eyes, I could still see the same hatred she’d had for me for the last twenty or so years.
“I wanted to tell you who killed Uncle Derek.”
Layla tilted her head to the side and looked at me in a strange new way. I thought she would spring from the bed in anticipation of knowing the truth.
“You already knew?” I asked.
“Yes. I found out not long ago. And that information was the catalyst for planning Torin’s assassination.”
I stepped back, startled. “Who told you about it?”
Layla’s lips morphed into an evil smile—not a mere curl of her lips, but a twisted display of malevolence. Her eyes narrowed, their madness sharpening. She let out loud laughter that sent chills down my spine.
Layla wasn’t my cousin any longer. She had sunk to the depths of darkness I didn’t want to know about.
“Someone saw the Alpha killing my father,” she said.
The image from Torin’s memories of the dark, slender figure hiding behind the trees popped into my mind.
If this person provided the information to Layla, they must have known what she’d do with it.
“Who was it, Layla?” I held my breath like I did when I was a child looking out my window, hoping to spot a shooting star.
I’d never seen one.
“I can’t tell you that, my dear cousin. The person is still trying to assassinate Torin. And since our missions are aligned, I can’t reveal their identity,” she said.
“So…even though you knew the name of the person responsible for your father’s death, you still tormented me. Why?” I asked. “You hate me this much?”
“You always get everything. You had the perfect, loving parents. You were the first Princess. You are next in line for the throne.” She shrugged. “And you’re not deserving of the crown, cousin.”
She was very wrong, but I only shook my head and exhaled a hot breath. The void between Layla and me had grown so dark and wide that we could never fill it with anything positive and happy.
“Goodbye, Layla. I won’t be coming here anymore,” I said in a low voice.
“It’s for the better.” She swung her feet over the bed and lay on it, staring at the gray ceiling.
While walking out of Layla’s prison, I felt less weight on my shoulders. Outside, I took a lungful of fresh air, clearing my mind of any blame and guilt. Uncle Derek loved me and had volunteered to go on the mission to regain my wolf spirit from Cordelia, taking the risks.
And I am enough. I would earn the right to be the next Queen.
I had harbored so much pain in my heart that it was about time to let go of some of it before the organ busted.
I’d seen my uncle’s dead body when I was only nine, but seeing him strong and alive one last time in Torin’s memories gave me the chance to memorize the gentle creases on his face that spoke of laughter and happiness.
His eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, and his thick eyebrows furrowed when deep in thought.
In my memory, I could now recall on demand the way he carried Torin and helped my dad in the vampire castle. Seeing Torin’s memory of Uncle Derek alive was a precious gift. Pushing down any negative thoughts, my every step felt lighter as I strolled back to the royal manor.
But I still had a big problem.
Tomorrow was my chance to find the traitor and eliminate them for good. My fingers clenched into tight fists as I walked. I wouldn’t let this person use me as bait for Torin. My instincts told me this person must be close to the King.
The Alphas didn’t know what was coming their way tomorrow.