Chapter 20 #2
They still hadn’t told me their names, so I awkwardly said, “Hello.”
Their long white hair cascaded down their shoulders. The woman in the middle smiled at me, but the other two witches stared at Hayden. She bowed slightly, and her gaze moved to my mate.
“King Hayden, have we met before?” she asked, and my eyebrows rose.
The three witches lived in isolation from the world, having chosen to hide themselves after they escaped the fairy realm. So where would the witches have a chance to meet my mate? He couldn’t even cross over to their dream realm.
While I darted my gaze between Hayden and the witches, I couldn’t help but feel Hayden’s uneasy attitude.
“I’ve never met a witch before,” Hayden said in a calm voice, which was at odds with what I felt over our mate bond. He moved his gaze to me. “Besides my Queen.”
“Perhaps I’ll remember later,” the woman said, and Hayden grimaced.
He nodded at the women and then looked at me. “I’ll wait for you in the boardroom to keep the supernaturals and the humans from getting at each other’s throats.”
“Thank you,” I said.
I hoped Hayden’s presence and my talk in the marble hall would calm the high tension.
After the witches watched Hayden’s back completely disappear from our view, they turned to me.
The witch in the middle spoke again. “We came here today to listen to you and ask if we can be of any help now since we won’t be joining you in battle.”
“Your presence is much appreciated, and I’ll keep my promise to you.”
When I summoned the witches using Cordelia’s ancient book, I promised the women that if I successfully defeated Victoria, the witches wouldn’t have to hide from supernaturals.
“The Fates wanted you to have a dual nature, Queen Breanna. The strength of your wolf and the power of your witch nature will balance the light and darkness within you,” she said as I swallowed hard. “Once your identity is complete, you will be the protector of witches.”
Did she forget I still lacked a wolf spirit?
The witch raised her hand, and the other two women walked away, following everyone else.
After sending them away, she spoke again. “The war is upon you, and you must focus on it. But don’t forget, you’ll need to complete your identity eventually to bring balance to the realms.”
I blinked. Realms? As in the human and fairy realms?
“I’ll follow you to the meeting room,” she said, gesturing for me to lead the way.
After she’d made me more confused, she appeared to be done talking.
The witch and I strolled to the boardroom. I pointed to a free seat for her between Adrian and Lucy, and the woman hesitantly sat down, sending subtle glances at the other guests. She was out of her comfort zone, but so was everyone else.
That was the reason I’d bought a new conference table—bigger and sturdier—to survive the lashing of the Alphas because they weren’t happy with their new Queen.
The new round table was my beacon of hope and collaboration, crafted from polished mahogany, smooth and flawless, like a blank canvas waiting for the strokes of my calligraphy brush.
As I usually began with an empty canvas, the new round table represented my fresh start.
“We must make a plan before we head to Seattle,” I said, breaking the awkward silence in the room, still standing.
Glancing around the room, I noticed Dad sat between Alphas Henry and Leo. Dad’s attendance was detrimental since I needed to learn from his mistakes, even though I knew my questions to him would bring up bad memories.
Tapping his fingers on the table’s surface, Alpha Henry cleared his throat. “Queen Breanna, as we told you before you invited all…these people here, we don’t need help.”
Adrian’s scoff followed, making the Alpha’s frown deepen.
This would be a long meeting, as the Alphas fought me every step of the way. Their new Queen wasn’t the puppet they thought she’d be, I would imagine.
“With all due respect, Alpha Henry,” I said. “This war will be fought very differently from what you remember thirty years ago.”
I realized that perhaps Dad had not recruited allies before because he had listened to his Alphas.
Alpha Henry was Dad’s oldest friend, and the former King trusted him, but I didn’t.
The last time I saw Layla in prison, she reminded me that the werewolf traitor still lived among us on our territory.
For all I knew, it could be another Alpha.
I opened my mouth to continue the meeting when Alpha Leo interrupted—a bad habit he had around me.
“You should have trusted us, your Alphas, not all these other people,” he said, pointing his finger to each vampire, witch, and human.
“There’s no point in discussing this now. We need to move on with our plan, Alpha Leo,” I said calmly.
Alpha Leo sprang to his feet, startling me and everyone else in the room.
“King Hayden,”—he looked over my shoulder—“please talk some reason into your Queen.”
The audacity of this Alpha. Blood rushed into my head, making my ears ring. Twisting my head, I watched as Hayden pushed off the wall he was leaning on and walked to my side.
He draped his arm over my shoulders. “My Queen is right to seek allies and has my full support.”
The warmth blossoming in my chest filled me with hope that Hayden and I would be able to make our mate bond work one day. From the other side of the table, my father smiled as he gazed lovingly at me and Hayden.
Hayden leaned in. “But the war is the last time you see your other mate, my Queen. You promised,” he whispered, and I took a sharp breath.
Alpha Leo stepped back, pushing the heavy leather chair back, and it fell with a loud thud on the ground. My eyes widened as I watched him slam his hand on my new table.
The wood rattled but didn’t break, making me smile.
“You can’t be serious,” he shouted. “The meeting with the vampires will turn into a massacre. Don’t you think they’ll drink the hunters and then us dry? Why are you exposing the entire kingdom to such risk? They can compel us, and no one will remember anything if we are still alive.”
My smile disappeared, and I took a deep, slow breath. Lucy sprang to her feet before I could even answer.
“I’ll have you know, Alpha, that we came here only after we fed,” she said, smiling.
The low chuckle from Adrian and the vampires only made Alpha Leo’s face redder.
Lucy straightened her posture. She always appeared strong and proud, even though she must have been hurt when the werewolves killed her mate.
“Although we’re vampires, we are not the Queen’s followers and have been searching for ways to rebel against her. Queen Breanna showed me compassion when my mate was captured and killed by your kind. I would follow her into the war against our common enemy.”
I smiled at Lucy, and her crimson eyes flashed.
“We need to move on,” I said.
“You can’t handle all of us and the war, Breanna,” Alpha Leo shouted.
A dark electrical wave zapped on my skin underneath my bracelet, and for a moment, I feared I’d set the entire boardroom on fire with dark magic.
“Sit down, Alpha Leo, or I’ll ask you to leave,” I said.
Hayden moved unbelievably fast to stand behind the Alpha, keeping his hands to himself. For now. But his gesture was a warning.
Lucy took a fighting stance, and Adrian stood.
If I didn’t take control of the boardroom, there would be a bloodbath.