Chapter 21
Konstantine
Iwent down to the kitchen. Food tasted like ash in my mouth nowadays, but my medicine would burn a hole in my stomach if I continued to take it without eating.
I groaned in frustration when I saw my mother, Callista, and Greta, our head of staff, deep in a conversation so serious, they started upon seeing me.
“Tinos,” they both said, using my childhood nickname, and I immediately knew where this was going.
“Kaliméra, mitéra. Good morning, Greta. Any coffee?”
“You need more than coffee with those pills, young man,” Greta replied, scrutinizing my face as she did almost every time she saw me. I stared at her, then at my mother, who wouldn’t meet my eyes. I had been the topic of their talks as of late. Why would today be any different?
“I see you’re keeping Greta up to date,” I said sarcastically. Other than Cyrus, my mother was the only person who’d known about my headaches, but the reason, I had withheld from her.
“Someone besides me has to make sure you’re eating, Tinos,” she said softly and kissed me on the forehead. “You’re looking more awful as time goes on.”
Greta placed a heaping plate of eggs, fruit, and pancakes in front of me. “Eat,” she ordered.
“Coffee,” I replied.
My mother took a seat next to me. “Tinos, we’ve been talking.”
“Obviously.”
“We’re worried, darling. That’s all. You haven’t been yourself.
I know the council has been giving you a hard time, and I know you’re doing your best to fight them off…
” Her voice faded, her attention far into her memories.
Troubles with the council hadn’t commenced with me; they’d begun with my father.
There were rumors of conspiracies… plans for a possible coup.
Most of them had been dismissed until his death.
It had been sudden, swift, and too easily explained away by some of those who had been present to see it.
To this day, not being there to witness exactly what had happened was the biggest black mark on my tenure as alpha.
The information I had received was secondhand, and my father’s death had been declared under assumption to have been an unfortunate accident, one of the perils of the position.
“Their treatment,” my mother was saying.
“I’ve never heard of such blasphemy.” The passing of her husband had brought my mother no reprieve from her duties.
With her son mateless, she had stayed on as acting Luna, at her own insistence.
I could never repay her for what she’d done for me, spending her golden years filling in as the matriarch, not only for our pack but for all the packs under the alliance of the council.
“I can handle them, Mom,” I said, “the chosen mate, it was my idea.”
Both women raised their voices at my confession, demanding an explanation.
The Council had been busy, but I’d been busier.
After the attack on the Halo, the Nine had declared it their duty to find me a mate.
I needed an heir; the territory needed that security.
It was unheard to force the Alpha to propagate his line, but the Council didn’t see the need for tradition in this instance.
The motion to find me a chosen mate would have never passed if I hadn’t had a hand in it.
I still had those who were loyal who kept me informed, but those allies were dwindling in number.
Still, there weren’t as many viable options for a mate as the Nine would have hoped.
Not too many alphas were willing to force their daughters or their pack members’ daughters to forgo the sacred mate bond, even if it meant one of them would be the next luna of the realm.
As for the alphas who were willing, those candidates weren’t necessarily conducive to the Nine’s strategy.
It had bought me what I needed most: time.
“I know you can take them, Tinos,” my mother said. “But at what cost?” The sadness in her eyes exposed her true feelings of having paid the price with her husband’s life. She never spoke of it, but some things didn’t need to be spoken to be heard.
“I can’t lose you to them too,” she whispered. I snuck a glance at both her and Greta and saw the anxiety about my health and overall welfare written on their faces.
“It’s not just the council,” I admitted quietly, hoping the truth would nullify some of their distress.
“Tinos, we know you’ve had to be strong…” Greta said, ready to assume the doting but stern motherly role she took whenever she felt I was overworking myself.
“It’s not just them,” I said again and pushed away my plate, barely touched.
“What then, darling?” my mother asked, laying a hand on my arm.
“My mate,” I said, keeping my head down. “She… I’ve found her.”
The hand caressing my arm went still. “Who? How?” my mother asked, dazed by my confession.
“The young girl, the human the twins attacked,” I replied flatly.
“Goddess, Konstantinos.” She put her head in her hands. “She was your fated?”
I nodded.
“Annalee told me about her,” Greta said from across the kitchen island.
It made sense that she would, as Greta and Nurse Annalee were sisters.
“She was quite intrigued by the girl. Annie said she was charming, seemingly very intelligent, and if I recall correctly, she used the words ‘absolutely stunning.’” She looked pointedly at me.
I sighed and took out my phone, then passed it to my mother after I’d pulled up the picture of her and me.
“Oh my, Tinos. Look at her. She is beautiful,” she said after analyzing the photograph for a while, then handed the phone to Greta, who nodded in agreement.
“The rest is true too,” I said. “And she had a mouth on her.”
They both laughed, and I was grateful for an occasion punctuated with levity.
“She had an unusual name.” Greta pinched the bridge of her nose. “But it’s eluding me at the moment.”
I tried to swallow, but my throat had contracted around my vocal cords, barring passage of any sound or coherent speech. I indicated the coffee pot to Greta with my hands, and she got the hint but poured me a glass of orange juice instead.
“No breakfast,” she quipped, eyeing my full plate, “no coffee.”
I glared at her and gulped down the drink. “Arax,” I said with a rasp when I was done. Her name escaping ulcerated my throat, where it had been interned for months, not to be spoken or thought of. “Her name was Arax.”
My mother and Greta knew where I stood on mates. Neither agreed, of course, but no explanation was needed as to why I’d let Arax go. However, it didn’t mean they’d stop fussing over what the separation from her was doing to me.
Greta force-fed me my breakfast, and I was finally able to get a damn cup of coffee out of her.
“Next month will be your ten-year anniversary…” she said, moving on to an even more sour subject.
“No,” I stated.
“Tinos, your sister is insisting on it,” my mother said. “It’s tradition, and it might do you and the pack some good to have a little fun.”
“No.” I shook my head. I didn’t have the energy to argue, with them or with Penelope. “She should throw her own party.”
“Konstantinos Alexandros,” my mother snapped. “This isn’t about you or your sister. This is about legacy and ritual.”
“Fine, have her do whatever she wants. Penelope always does anyway,” I grunted and got up, heading toward my office.
“By way of the moonlight, Alpha!” A group of young women waved cheekily at me, drinks spilling out of their goblets as they greeted me.
They were already drunk, their raucous laughter sure to give me a headache if I didn’t already have one.
Penelope had gotten her way, as was the norm.
However, my mother had been right. With or without my sister’s insistence, this celebration was important, not just for my family but for my pack, and the packs over which I held dominion.
It was a reminder of loyalty, of safety, protection and prosperity.
But for me, it was just a reminder that my title had been prematurely granted, in the wake of my father’s death.
Days before my anniversary as Alpha, the east wing of the castle, usually reserved for formal events and special occasions, had been opened in preparation for the big night.
Invitations had been sent before I had given my consent for the event.
This was typical for Penelope, who did as she wanted and never skimped on the details.
Party planning was a gift she had, styling the wing and the outside of the castle to resemble a garden ball.
It was classy but over the top in detail.