Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
At some point, I must have drifted asleep, because when I turned on my side, a sharp pain traveling from my wrist to my shoulder forced my eyes to fling wide open.
Last night’s events flooded my mind. Did the Alpha make it to safety? Did he report to my father how I fought vampires?
Calling Dad today wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience. I imagined his wolf eyes flashing at me as they usually did back in the kingdom every time I was in danger.
In slow motion, I adjusted my injured arm from underneath my body and watched Tammy as she slept soundlessly. Her eyes behind her eyelids moved side to side rapidly.
The good news was that we were safe. Dad’s men probably watched over us. The bad news was that confronting Dad would anger him, and he would use the situation to demand I return to his side and prepare to step into his shoes.
Those were some big shoes to fill, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.
I drew in a deep breath. First, I needed to confirm whether his men had cleaned up the blood. Then I was going to give him a piece of my mind.
Grateful and annoyed at the same time, I tiptoed out of bed and closed the bedroom door behind me.
A cold shiver ran down my spine. The morning temperatures had dropped, and I craved a shopping trip to the mall for fuzzy socks with my bestie.
But I had a feeling, after last night, any normal human experiences would be few and far between.
Not wanting to wake up Tammy, I skipped rummaging for extra clothes and only wrapped my favorite apron around my waist. I picked up my phone from the kitchen countertop, not remembering when I had put it there.
The phone vibrated in my hand, and my body jolted.
Coincidentally, it was my dad calling. I swiped the screen to answer.
“Hi, Dad,” I said in my fake chirpy voice, knowing too well he was going to hear right through it.
I shouldn’t have made assumptions. I would listen to him first, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that he’d betrayed me.
“Anna, are you okay?” My dad’s authoritative voice he used in the kingdom sounded, but it shook at the end.
“Why wouldn’t I be okay, Dad?”
He didn’t answer, as if he was thinking about his next words too hard, and an awkward silence stretched between us.
Then he sighed heavily. “I only wanted you to be safe.”
Had he just apologized or made an excuse? Knowing Dad, I’d guess he wanted me to call him first, but he was too impatient to wait. He wanted me to reach out to him for help.
“I had one of my men follow you to the club. He only figured out you were chased by vampires when he saw them outside of the club where he hid. You were in the car already and got safely to your apartment.” Dad cleared his throat.
He must have had a hard time imagining me in danger.
“Did your man wipe clean all traces?” I sauntered to the fridge and took out the cartoon of eggs.
Holding my phone with one hand and the eggs with the other, I shut the fridge door with my foot, putting extra force into my kick.
Losing my balance, I almost dropped the eggs.
My entire body still ached, and I winced.
“Yes, he did. What’s wrong, Anna?”
I groaned. Damn werewolf ears.
“Nothing, Dad,” I snapped at him but quickly reconsidered my tone and sighed. “I’m fine. And it was an accident. I didn’t know there were going to be vampires there. Otherwise, obviously, I wouldn’t have gone.”
“Tell me what happened,” Dad ordered in the voice he reserved for his Alphas.
He was in King mode now.
“The vampires do their operations out of the club. They seem to use it for feeding sessions.” I paused, considering how much detail I should provide.
I was definitely skipping the parts about naked people. The werewolves could indulge in their hours-long orgies, but the King’s only daughter couldn’t date unless it was for mating purposes.
“They were torturing the Alpha of the Nighteye pack. Tammy and I just stumbled upon them. I promise I wasn’t looking for trouble, Dad. Okay?”
“They had Mark?” My dad sounded genuinely surprised and mad, which meant the Alpha hadn’t made it back to the kingdom yet or hadn’t called him.
Alpha Mark must have been sworn in as a new Alpha recently since he hadn’t recognized my face, and I didn’t remember meeting him before I left for London.
“Well, in the rush, I didn’t really catch his name, but I recognized his pack marking. The vampire Queen ordered them to bring the Alpha to her. Do you know why?”
“Probably to get pleasure in torturing him herself. She’s psychotic,” he said, but it felt like there were more unspoken words he would never tell me.
The story of my life.
“Anyway, I couldn’t leave him there, so I had to fight the vampires—”
“No, Anna, please tell me you are okay. Any injuries? Do you need—”
“Dad. Dad.” Once he stopped his rambling, I continued. “I know you’re worried, and I’m sorry, but you have to trust me. You trained me, remember? Exactly so that I can protect myself when needed. And I’m fine.”
“But Anna,” he said in the softest voice, only reserved for his daughter, “my person said there was blood. Tell me what happened.”
“Oh, about that. Soooo…there were two vampires, and one of them compelled Tammy and…bit her.”
A sharp inhale came over the line. Dad must be struggling to stay calm.
“He tried to compel me, too, but it didn’t work on me. Did you know the vampire compulsion has no effect on me, Dad?” I held my breath and listened intently. Surely, my father had to have answers for me.
“I had no idea, but I’m glad,” he said in a steady voice, which made me believe he was telling me the truth, but again, unspoken words hung in the silence that followed.
The thought that somehow I was different and I couldn’t be compelled nudged my mind and didn’t want to let go.
“That’s why I have to open the damn book,” I said on autopilot, more to myself.
My body stilled when I realized what I’d said. Shoot.
“What book?”
“I mean, the damn cookbook. I have to crack it open if I want to learn how to cook, you know.” I wanted to hit my forehead with my palm, but I still carried the carton of eggs for some reason.
There was no way I was telling Dad about the magic book, which would be another can of worms.
“I really don’t want you to interact with vampires, Anna.”
I was sure he knew that I was going to argue with him about me being a human, so he quickly added, “But I’m so proud of you. I’m sure Mark is on his way here to report.”
“Anyway,” I said. “Thank you for assisting.”
My father sighed, and I knew his next words—the same ones he’d repeated more this year than any of the past seven years.
“Anna,” he said with another sigh, “it’s time for you to come back home.”
I stifled the groan rumbling in my throat. “I’ll come visit soon, Dad.”
“No, Anna. Not to visit me and your mom. To take on your responsibilities as the next Queen. You saved Mark. You’re ready to lead, Anna.”
If it were only that easy.
I drew in a deep breath. “Just because I saved one of the Alphas, it won’t ensure that the other Alphas will vote in my favor.
I’m human, Dad. Human.” I lowered my voice.
“Who in their right mind would like to have a human Queen in the werewolf kingdom? Your Alphas are going to have a fit about it. They will never allow it.”
There were five big regions in the US with five Alphas who had many Betas and other high-ranked werewolves to help them manage their large territories: Pacific—where the royal manor was located—Frontier, Midwest, South, and Northeast, where Mark was from.
The Alphas had Councils to help them with the organization of their packs.
The Councils’ size ranged from several individuals to twelve, including the head of warriors, Betas, and some retired werewolves who no longer fought at the front lines but provided wisdom accumulated over years of experience.
The Alphas were responsible for their pack affairs, and the King dealt with high-level issues such as the impending war with the vampire Queen.
If someone challenged an Alpha for his position, my dad would oversee the process to make sure it was fair. He was also involved with training warriors across all packs since we had to fend off attacks from hunters and vampires.
Werewolves were very hierarchical creatures, sticking to traditions and rituals. Strength and speed, loyalty and pride were core values in our culture.
Some pups were born with the pack marking. Others who decided to switch packs would only have the new markings appear on their skin when they were fully accepted. I didn’t have the crescent marking inked on my body, and the mere reminder of it tightened my chest.
Although being a Queen or King was a right inherited by birth, to become the ultimate werewolf leader, a royal still needed four or more votes out of the six highest-ranked werewolves—the five Alphas and the King.
Any voting system had its flaws, but ours had been in place for generations.
Werewolves didn’t like change. It brought uncertainty and danger.
The voting system ensured that no royal heir automatically became the next leader if others didn’t deem him or her fit for the position.
The five Alphas, maybe except Mark, would never vote favorably for a human to take the throne despite my lineage. I imagined one of Dad’s all-Alphas board meetings, where the high-ranking werewolves would throw words at their King such as “fragile” and “weak.”
At first, I thought Dad’s push for me to be the next Queen was wishful thinking that came out of a place of parental love.
But something bothered me about his constant reminders to inherit the throne.
The King was a rational and strategic werewolf.
He knew of the danger to his human daughter becoming the Queen.
Werewolves used challenges to establish their dominance and strength, sometimes even fighting to the death. Why would Dad push for it despite logic?
The only somewhat reasonable explanation I had was Dad’s need for revenge for what had transpired almost thirty years ago when the vampire Queen stabbed Dad with her silver sword in the shoulder. Dad sustained permanent damage to his flesh and had never been the same since then.
He wouldn’t be able to fight the vampire Queen in his current physical shape, leaving me as his only heir to continue the fight after I became the werewolf Queen.
I was missing a puzzle piece, though, and to find out what it was, I had to face my dad in the kingdom—something I planned on avoiding as long as I could.
The King was silent for a long moment before he said, “Remember what I’ve told you before, Anna. Find your mate, inherit the throne. My Alphas would be pacified as long as you have a werewolf King leading with you.”
I ground my teeth so hard I was sure Dad could hear the dental damage.
“The werewolves won’t see me as a real Queen and their leader but as some pawn in the hands of my mate who will run the show. Are you saying that the next King would be more important than me?”
“No, no. You’ve got it wrong. All I’m saying is that you have to be more strategic and political in your thinking as a royal.
” Dad let out a heavy sigh. “You’ll need a werewolf mate next to you to gain the favor of the high-ranking werewolves who will vote for you.
Then, once you’re the Queen, you’ll rule as you see fit. ”
I’d rather not be the next Queen if I had to mate with a werewolf in order to be selected. I’d rather not be the next Queen period.
“I’m done talking about this, Dad. You can’t change the fact that I was born a human.”
But I had a magic book that could potentially tell me why, and if I knew why I had a human heritage, I could convince Dad I couldn’t be the next Queen.
I must have been so engrossed in the conversation with Dad that I only now realized I stood in the middle of my kitchen with a carton of eggs in one hand. I placed it on the countertop and changed the subject. “Dad, I am still mad that you had a person watching me. For how long?”
Silence. Then he said, “Anna.”
I knew what that meant, even if he didn’t say it. “You had someone around me for all seven years? Really?” I squeaked.
Though well-intentioned, his overbearing actions and attempts to control my choices had become stifling. I yearned for independence to forge my own destiny, yet Dad’s influence remained a constant shadow, casting doubts on my path.
“Don’t take that tone with me, young Princess—”
“I’m not that young, Dad. I’m twenty-five.”
He always said that when he became defensive.
I finally opened the carton to find one already broken egg, which had made a mess. I took out four eggs and cracked them over the frying pan on the stove.
“The vampires are everywhere.” Dad’s tone turned harsh.
I must have disappointed him again with my refusal to take on the throne.
“Of course, they were everywhere, and so were the other supernaturals. We are all supposed to co-exist,” I deadpanned.
“The dangers are real. The risk is too high,” he said. “I’m sending your bodyguard, and I won’t hear any more excuses, Anna.”
His tone had reverted to the one of my King.
I sighed. “Hayden probably could serve you there better.”
“I already told him, and he’s on his way to London.”
What?
No.